The Kurchatov Institute, Russia’s leading research
and development institution in the field of nuclear energy, is working with
energy giant Gazprom to build the underwater gas carriers, with delegates
attending last week’s Offshore Marintec Russia 2024 expo given a sneak peak of
the design.
The project is
designed to overcome the months where gas carriers cannot transit the Arctic
due to ice coverage. “The creation of underwater nuclear-powered gas carriers
has been discussed for a long time, since the early 2000s. Now we have started
designing with Gazprom, this work will move forward,” said Mikhail Kovalchuk,
director of the nuclear research institute.
Local media claimed the giant 360 m long submarines
would be able to carry 180,000 tons of LNG. The 70 m wide vessels would feature RITM-200
nuclear reactors, which Russia uses to power its newest icebreakers.
Russia’s Arctic LNG 2
facility started production of seaborne LNG last December. However, exports
have been plagued with problems.