Russia's floating nuke station horrifies environmentalists

[DesertFox]

Russian atomic engineers are determined to press ahead with a plan to build the world's first floating nuclear power station despite howls of disbelief and horror from environmentalists, who see potential not only for ecological catastrophe but also for a terrorist attack at sea.

The board of Russia's atomic energy agency, RosAtom, which met on May 25 to give the go-ahead, said it "could become a new direction in the development of atomic energy".

A ministry spokesman, Nikolai Shingaryov, told the Herald it would be a fullscale power station and would float on a barge in the White Sea off Severodvinsk in the Archangel region of northern Russian. It should be ready by 2010.

More (http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Russias-floating-nuclear-station-stuns-ecologists/2005/06/10/1118347599337.html?oneclick=true)

[ThomasMore]

Mobile Chernobyl!

(Chuckles) The Environmental Wackos' worst nightmare!

Frankly, I am with the EWs on this one. Russia's history with most high tech has been, um, checkered. Decent technology, bad application and iffy safety records. Russian nuke plants, Russian rockets, Russian airliners, Russian subs, etc.

Something to do with responding to apparatchiks' pressures with limited press and limited recourse (instead of market pressures and a free press).

[DesertFox]

The real problem is their industry. It's incapable of consistently excellent high-precision work. The Soviet Army used to refuse to accept entire production runs of rockets, missiles and the like.

[JimRaynor]

I am no PETA or Greenpeace member (hell no), but jesus christ... could you imagine a terror attack on this thing?

And we all know how good the Russians are with Nuclear materials post-Soviet.