On September 9, 2019, the floating nuclear power station Akademik Lomonosov, which left Murmansk on August 23, 2019 accompanied by the Dixon ice boat and two tow boats, has completed its route ahead of schedule and approached the city of Pevek in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. All in all, since its towage from the quay in Murmansk until its arrival to Pevek, the powership has covered 2,640 miles (4,888 km).

At the moment, the floating nuclear power station is located at the anchorage #2 a few hundred meters away from the seashore. The station team and the Pevek harbor captain have started elaborating the plan for the powership mooring at the wharf. In the meantime, the station undergoes activities related to nodes and mechanisms probing following a long trip.

‘During the course of ferrying, the floating nuclear power station has shown great performance and re-confirmed its top-notch navigation capabilities. At the moment, ourselves and the harbor management are working on the mooring plan. Due to the peculiarities of the harbor and the new wharf and taking into account the large size of the power block, this won’t be an easy job. We need to consider each and every detail. In the next few days, we are going to finalize the plan, and by the end of the week the floating nuclear power station will take its permanent location’, Vitaliy Trutnev, the Director of the Floating Nuclear Power Station construction and operation at the Rosenergoatom Joint-Stock Company, said.

Following the mooring and the connection to the grid, the floating power block will become a fully-fledged power facility as a part of the Floating Nuclear Heat Power Station (FNHPS), which will become the most northern floating NPP both in Russia and in the world, making the Bilibino NPP a runner-up.

Once the FNHPS is launched, the number of nuclear power plants in Russia will be increased from ten to eleven. In the future, it is supposed to replace the generating capacities of the Chaun-Bilibino load center – the Chaun CHPP in the city of Pevek and the Bilibino NPP in the city of Bilibino.

Since the floating nuclear heat and power plant is going to be located in Pevek, it will spur the social and economic development of the Chaun municipal district and Chukotka in general. Besides, the plant will become one of the key infrastructure elements within the Northern Sea Route development program as it will facilitate all-year round icebreaker support, which, in turn, will enable major logistics projects around the Pevek port, where the floating power block is going to be located.