Russia launched a floating nuclear power plant this weekend

On Saturday the world's first floating power plant left St. Petersburg, Russia, towed by two boats. The two-reactor, 70MW floating power plant is headed through the Baltic Sea and north around Norway, to a Russian town called Murmansk, where the boat will receive its fuel. After a period of time in Murmansk, the power plant will be towed to a small Arctic town called Pevek, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

The floating nuclear power plant, called the Akademik Lomonosov, doesn't have any of its own propulsion hardware, so being slowly towed to its destination is a necessity. The company that built the plant, state-owned Rosatom Corporation, said in a press release that the second stage of the journey, from Murmansk to Pevek, will commence in 2019, with fuel and crew aboard the boat/power plant.

Once the plant reaches Pevek, it will be used to power the 100,000-person town, a desalination plant, and oil rigs. Rosatom says that the Lomonsov is intended to replace the region's Bilibino nuclear power plant, which provides 48 MW of nuclear power and was built in 1974, as well as the Chaunskaya Thermal Power Plant which is now 70 years old. Bilibino was once the northern-most nuclear power plant in the world, but after the Lomonsov is in operation it will inherit that title.