A floating Russian nuclear power station that environmentalists are calling a potential “Chernobyl on ice” set sail Friday on a 3,000-mile journey across the Arctic.
The Akademik Lomonosov, which left the port of Murmansk and is destined for Pevek, is carrying highly radioactive fuel and two tsunami-proof nuclear reactors on board, according to the BBC. Three tugs are pulling the ship east so it can provide power to a remote, Siberian mining complex.
Greenpeace sees the project as high-risk, in a harsh weather environment.
Critics including Greenpeace point to previous Russian and Soviet nuclear accidents and warn that the Akademik Lomonosov’s mission increases the risk of polluting the Arctic – a remote, sparsely-populated region with no big clean-up facilities.
BBC / Fox News /Tass
