The Dollezhal Research and Design Institute of Power Engineering (Nikiet), a leading enterprise of the Rosatom Corporation, has proposed using its Shelf reactor for the development of the Pavlovskoye lead and zinc deposit on the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, Alexander Pimenov, Nikiet deputy director general for innovative projects, told RIA Novosti.

In his address to the AtomEco 2017 international forum and exhibition, Alexander Pimenov reported on the nuclear reactors created at Nikiet for small nuclear power plants, including a small nuclear power plant with the standardized Shelf reactor.

The Shelf reactor is designed to generate electricity for offshore facilities, including in the Arctic, as well as for regions with inadequate energy and transport infrastructure.

"We propose using this reactor at the Pavlovskoye deposit and the Chaun-Bilibino energy hub on the Chukotka Peninsula," Pimenov said. He added that one such reactor installed at the Pavlovskoye deposit could replace a two-unit power plant. The diesel stations at the deposit will produce the bulk of electricity, while the reactor will smooth peak loads and hence keep the electricity system at the deposit in the optimal mode of operation.

"The first such reactor will cost some 6.7 billion rubles, but commercial production will cut the cost to 5.2 billion," Pimenov said.  A standard 6.4 MW Shelf reactor comprises a nuclear unit plus systems responsible for its operation, emergency cooling, emergency protection and safe maintenance.