Russian state-owned energy company Rosatom has begun studying the feasibility of establishing a new shipyard in Murmansk dedicated to the manufacture of new nuclear-powered floating production units (FPUs).
Rosatom is considering putting up the proposed shipyard near the port facilities presently being used by the large nuclear-powered icebreakers operated by its subsidiary Atomflot.
The company expects to issue its final decision on the project in the spring of 2025, though design work and site surveys have already commenced and will last until the autumn of 2026. The actual construction works are scheduled to begin in 2027 pending final approval.
Russia has only one nuclear-powered FPU, the 144-metre Akademik Lomonosov (pictured), which was delivered to Rosatom by state-owned Baltic Shipyard in 2019.
Rosatom intends to build and operate four Project 20871 106MWh non-self-propelled FPUs. The company's current plans call for the deployment of the units to Chukotka in the Russian Far East to support local copper and gold mining activities beginning in 2028.