Russia is building floating nuclear stations to bring cheap power to remote locations, but Russian enviros say the units will be accident-prone, waterborne “Chernobyls” that will make easy targets for terrorists. The stations will serve as huge atomic batteries moored off coastlines, each providing enough power for a town of 50,000. Construction has begun on the first station, which is due to start up within four years in Pevek, 600 miles west of Alaska, and Russia plans to build half a dozen more in the country’s far east and extreme north. Indonesia and the Philippines have expressed interest in getting their own floating stations, which would be significantly cheaper than conventional land-based nuclear reactors.
