Intel Brief: Nuclear floats

Russian floating nuclear power plants are likely to be an attractive alternative source of energy for Qatar, Aleksandra Maria Bielska writes for ISN Security Watch.

Despite security concerns, Russian floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs) will be an attractive alternative source of energy for Qatar, freeing up gas reserves in the short run for export and readily satisfying the requirements of the Qatari nuclear program. The construction of traditional nuclear plants (NPPs) is challenging in local conditions. 

In the case of Qatar, the Russian lease-to-use agreement is also unlikely to result in a dangerous dependence on a foreign energy supply.

In October, a delegation from Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) visited Moscow. According to the Kahramaa website, the Russian Federal Agency for Nuclear Energy (Rosatom) prepared a presentation that included FNPPs. In an article about the plants, but unrelated to the Qatari visit to Moscow, CNN stated that each FNPP would be a football-field-sized external pagebarge with two nuclear reactors on board. Leased from Russia and moored to the coast of an interested state, the plants would supply electricity, heat and desalinated water to local facilities.

FNPPs comply with the goals of the Qatari nuclear program. The emirate hosts the world's external page3rd largest natural gas reserves, and currently, gas-fired power plants generate all its external pageelectricity.

Kahramaa planning manager Yousuf Janahi, reflects local concerns that natural gas is external pageless sustainable than nuclear energy. Through the nuclear program, Doha hopes to external pageconserve more resources for export. 

FNPPs could relieve gas plants and provide energy to the Qatari coast, where most of the country's 825,000 inhabitants live. According to external pageJane's Intelligence Review, the first FNPPs, due in 2011, will have two KLT-40S reactors, similar to the ones used in Russian icebreakers and submarines. Their cumulative capacity of 70 megawatts (MW) will easily power cities of 100,000-200,000 people. Except for the capital Doha and Al Rayyan, Qatari municipalities have less than external page50,000 inhabitants.

Qatari energy, water demands on the rise

Foreseeing possible future water shortages, Issa Al Ghanim, Vice-Chairman of Kahramaa, stressed that the Qatari government was also external pageinterested in the nuclear desalination of water. While, according to Kahramaa, by 2012, local daily water demand will more than external pagedouble, increasing by about 681,000 cubic meters, FNPPs, which would supply approximately external page240,000 cubic meters of water per day, could at least partially solve the problem.

Current projects show that, in the long run, Qatar desires a more permanent and independent power program. The country is currently less endangered by external pagepower shortages than other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Nevertheless, Royal Haskoning and KEMA, a Dutch engineering consortium which prepared a 30-year master plan of Qatari electricity usage, noted that its power demands are external pagerising quickly. The Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) stated in February 2008 that Qatar plans to build a external pageland-based NPP together with the world's largest solar power complex.

The Russian idea is a surprisingly attractive short-run solution. According to a Reuters report, the solar facility will not be operational until external page2013. In addition, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) believes that, depending on the local technological capabilities, countries need between external page10 and 15 years to launch their first NPPs. Likewise, local feasibility studies state that it is unlikely that  Qatar will have an NPP before external page2018. Russia wants to introduce FNPPs by 2011, which could provide a temporary solution before Qatar completes its own plants.

In fact, the construction of an NPP in Qatar will likely be challenging. Necessary safety zones make it inconvenient to locate the station in the small country. According to Janahi, it is uncertain whether the existing electricity grid can external pagesupport an additional 1,000MW from a large plant. Emirates Business also warns that no GCC country can supply water in the amount needed to external pagecoola land-based reactor. Moreover, there would be the problem of nuclear waste. The Russian FNPP design has a special compartment to store radioactive bi-products that Russia would remove every 10-12 years, during pre-planned overhauls. 

Finally, although Russia plans to external pagelease and not sell the station, a potential dependence on a foreign energy supply is unlikely to be dangerous for Qatar. As the owner, Russia could try to pressure any country where FNPPs would be the only and, hence, irreplaceable energy source. Such "energy blackmail" is unlikely to succeed with Qatar which, in case of emergency, could still rely on its powerful gas reserves.

Groups cite terror and environmental risks

Critics of the Russian idea note the potential security risks. external pageDavid Lochbaum, nuclear safety expert from the Union of Concerned Scientists, warns that FNPPs are more dangerous than traditional NPPs. He explains that a cloud of steam from the maritime explosion would be more destructive than the 1986 Chernobyl plume, as droplets of radioactive water penetrate human body easier than radioactive ash.

external pageGreenpeace adds that powerful sea currents can quickly spread any contamination. It worries that terrorists could try to destroy the plants, attacking not only from sea, air or land, but also from underwater. The New Delhi Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (external pageIPCS) reported that the Philippine terrorist group Abu Sayef, the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers (LTTE) and the Indonesian Jemaah Islamiah all either planned to target or have targeted maritime objects. In October 2000, terrorists crashed explosives-loaded speedboats into the USS Cole. The French oil tanker Limburg was attacked two years later.

Further doubts concern the technology. The KLT-40S reactors are just slightly modified in comparison to reactors used on Russian submarines and icebreakers. The environmental group Green Cross Russia (external pageGCR) questions their reliability, recalling numerous malfunctions.

external pageCristina Chuen, an expert in Russian nuclear energy from the Monterey Institute for International Studies, mentions "subtle performance differences" between the generation of power and propulsion. She worries whether the Russians have performed all necessary research to ensure that old military technologies would function properly when used to satisfy civil needs.

While groups such as Greenpeace and GCR traditionally criticize any nuclear proliferation, it is likely that Russia will maximize the security of FNPPs, as it expects a high external pageglobal demand for the plants.

Rosatom Director Sergei Kiriyenkosays that the FNPP "will be much external pagesafer than a land-based one," and the KLT-40S safety systems proved effective after the explosion on the Russian submarine Kursk. external pageStanislav Lavkovsky from the Russian Ship Repair and Building Corporation stated that refueling will take place in special, secure shipyards. As Russian news agency external pageRIA Novosti reported, the transport of the barge will occur without fuel, technologies such as fingerprint and iris identification will prevent unauthorized access, and unspecified security systems will protect FNPPs from underwater sabotage.

Duma representative external pageMikhail Zalikhanov added that, "The floating NPPs have five radiation protection barriers and can withstand an earthquake measuring seven to eight points on the Richter scale, 100mph winds and a falling Jak-40 jet." Finally, according to external pageJane's Intelligence Review, low-enriched uranium which powers the reactors is no more attractive for illegal weapon manufacturers than uranium used in traditional plants.

Although the threat of terrorism seems serious, "external pageQatar 2008 Crime and Safety Report," published by the US Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), notes that "incidents of terrorist-related violence are rare throughout Qatar "[…]." Accordingly, the US Department of State in its "external pageCountry Reports on Terrorism 2007," mentioned that "There has not been a terrorist attack in Qatar since the March 19, 2005."

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