Prof. Monish Gunawardana – International University of Management, Namibia Energy will be one of the defining factors of this century. Technological advancement has pushed half of the world population into cities and towns that requires enormous amount of energy. And their industries are very power-hungry. It is very clear that the era of easy oil is over. Coal is not so environmentally friendly and renewable energies such as bio-fuel, solar or wind have limited capacity to fuel the global economic engine. Therefore, the world has to utilize an eco-friendly and sustainable core-energy sources like nuclear power to keep the human race alive – maybe in the novel-form of Floating Nuclear Power Plants (FNPP). HISTORY OF FNPP In 1961, the army of the United States of America awarded a US$17 million contract to the Martin Company, in Baltimore. It fabricated a 45-megawatt floating nuclear power plant that was to be mounted in a ship. The first of this kind of power unit was called the MH-IA-Sturgis and was installed in a modified Liberty ship. During the Vietnam War, this floating plant provided electricity to the Panama Canal enabling more boats to pass through. Even though American companies (i.e. Westinghouse, Martin, Tenneco) have enough technical expertise, they did not produce floating nuclear power plants to the world market. NEW DIRECTION The energy crisis and the global concern over the global warming have forced nations to reconsider the nuclear energy as a viable power-option. In addition, Russia as a leader in the nuclear industry, has established Rosatom, a directorate to build offshore nuclear power plants for the global market. These small power plants are designed to mount in a “special-purpose non-self-propelled ship” (a barge) and stationed at the seacoast or inland lagoons. The generated power of the plant will be connected by cables to the national electricity grid, in a manner similar to the Mobile High Power nuclear power units operated by the US military in the 1970s. HOW IT LOOKS? The floating nuclear power plant is a huge construction that looks like a tall building on a ship and is owned by the vendor. For example, Russia and China have singed a contract to build a 70-megawatt floating plant (Novesty Press, Russia: 28 July 2005), which will look like a multi-storey building, 140m-long and 30m-wide with a displacement of 21 000 tons. China has agreed to build the body and Russia is responsible for the power block. These plants are designed to be transport to a remote location. The core of these reactors is cooled by forced circulation of highly pressurized water during the operation. HOW IT WORKS? A floating nuclear power plant under the manufactured-country’s flag would be towed up to the coast of the state that had signed an agreement to obtain power. In addition, it would be anchored in a location close to the coastal area and teamed up with local engineering unit on the shore. After that, the plant would start up its nuclear reactors to provide electricity. The power plant will be operated, maintained and serviced by a small crew of technicians provided by the manufacturer or vendor. The reactor will be loaded with uranium-nuclear fuel once every three years by the vendor and every 12 years the plant will go back to the vendor’s country to be overhauled, checked-up and serviced. NO FLOATING-CHERNOBYL Environmental lobbies across the globe have strongly criticized the floating power plants. However, defending the safety of them, Sergei Kiriyenko, chief of Russia’s Nuclear Energy Agency, said “no one else in the world has such experience as we have accumulated over the years in our atomic fleet of safely operating small-capacity reactors and when the plant is decommissioned and pulled out, it leaves no pollution”. The latest technological innovations have been used to prevent unauthorized access to fissile materials aboard the power plants. In addition, these plants will be protected against terrorist attacks or if a big airliner were to fall on the plant, there is no way it would destroy them. Even the worst types of accidents require no safety measures beyond one-kilometre radius. REAL BENEFITS These plants are multi-purpose in terms of possible applications. They are more suitable for remote areas that could not be connected to the national electricity grid, due to geographical factors. A 70-megawatt plant can supply electricity to a small city with a 200 000 population. In addition, it can be used to provide heat (thermal energy) and transform seawater into clean drinking water (desalination) for that city. It will save 200 000 metric tons of coal and 100 000 tons of fuel per annum. The price tag of the plant is US$180 million and its lifespan is nearly 40 years. In addition, it could be operated for around 12 years without refuelling. The total cost of the power plant would be recovered in 12 years. Moreover, since the operation, maintenance, fuelling and waste-management are done by the vendor, the nuclear-proliferation issue is irrelevant in this case. GLOBAL DEMAND In October 2005, Rosatom displayed small-sized land-based, underground and offshore (FNPP) nuclear power products at the Moscow World Trade Centre. This event created an international interest on nuclear energy. As Rosatom CEO Alexender Rumyantsev said: “many countries in the Pacific region were asking us to show them the floating power plants in action and when they see them, they will buy these plants by the series. China has already agreed to buy a nuclear power plant. Canada, the Middle East, Thailand and Indonesia have shown their interest in these plants. In addition, the government of Namibia has recently expressed its interest to purchase a floating nuclear power station to reinforce its energy security. LOGICAL OPTION A number of important factors now favour nuclear power options in developed and developing countries. Technical factors such as increasing global energy demand, the issue of climate change and increased safety of the nuclear power industry have attracted more nations to nuclear power. According to the United Kingdom’s “Energy Policy paper-2006″, expanding nuclear energy is an essential component of any strategy capable of combating global warming, while continuing to meet the national energy needs”. Finally, I don’t see any inherent reason why developing countries like Namibia should exclude nuclear power options such as land-based or floating power plants to accelerate economic growth. (monish22@yahoo.com).