Baltic Shipyard, a division of Russia's state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation, has cut the first steel to be used in the construction of a new vessel designed for the maintenance of nuclear reactors used in marine propulsion. The lead vessel of the Project 22770 series is scheduled for commissioning in 2029 to replace the Project 1948 series of ships that were designed to perform the same role.
Each vessel under Project 22770 will have diesel engines and unlimited navigation area notation. Its duties will include replenishment of other vessels' nuclear reactors, unloading of spent radioactive fuel and waste for processing, and transport of radioactive waste.
The Project 22770 vessels will operate primarily in the Russian Arctic. They will be deployed in support of Russian nuclear-powered commercial ships such as heavy icebreakers and even floating nuclear power plants. State-owned atomiс energy company Rosatom will be the operator of the first vessel in the series.