How Russia Became the World Leader in Floating Nuclear Tech

In 1967, the U.S. Army switched on the world's first floating nuclear power plant — a WWII Liberty ship gutted and rebuilt around a reactor. The Sturgis was towed to the Panama Canal and powered the Canal Zone for years. Then America shut it down and walked away from the idea. Today, the only country operating a floating nuclear power plant is Russia. And in a shipyard in Saint Petersburg, it's building a new generation — more powerful, and designed for export. In this documentary, we go inside the conversion of the Sturgis, the forgotten Westinghouse plan to mass-produce floating nuclear plants off the U.S. coast, the construction and Arctic tow of Russia's Akademik Lomonosov, and the new RITM-200 floating units Russia is building right now. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 The ship that carried a reactor 1:33 The Army Nuclear Power Program 3:06 A power plant that never needs land 3:44 Gutting a Liberty ship 4:57 How the MH-1A reactor worked 6:18 First criticality, 1967 6:51 The Panama Canal problem 7:29 Powering the Canal Zone 8:21 Why America stopped 9:15 Offshore Power Systems: the floating plant factory 10:28 Russia looks to the Arctic 11:15 Building the Akademik Lomonosov 12:17 Delays, protests, and fueling in Murmansk 12:50 The tow to Pevek 13:55 The end of the Sturgis 14:33 Russia's new floating fleet 16:03 Floating nuclear power for export 17:03 Where does America stand? 17:44 What "years ahead" really means 📚 REFERENCES U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – STURGIS nuclear decommissioning completed (DVIDS) https://www.dvidshub.net/news/printab... U.S. Army – Recycling a key factor in dismantling of STURGIS floating nuclear power plant https://www.army.mil/article/222786/r... U.S. Army – STURGIS decommissioning hits major milestone with reactor component removal https://www.army.mil/article/190136/s... Port of Brownsville – Army Corps of Engineers finishes dismantling of historic STURGIS vessel https://www.portofbrownsville.com/?p=... The Maritime Executive – Floating Nuclear Plant Sturgis Dismantled https://maritime-executive.com/articl... U.S. NRC – Floating Nuclear Power Plants: A Technical Solution to a Land-based Problem https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-... What Is Nuclear – Offshore nuclear power plants https://whatisnuclear.com/offshore-nu... Nuclear Engineering International – Akademik Lomonosov begins commercial operation https://www.neimagazine.com/news/akad... World Nuclear News – First refuelling at floating nuclear power plant https://world-nuclear-news.org/articl... World Nuclear News – Rosatom considers Murmansk site for floating power plant construction https://world-nuclear-news.org/articl... World Nuclear News – Russian export push for floating nuclear power plants https://world-nuclear-news.org/articl... The Barents Observer – Here comes the next-generation reactor for Arctic floating plants https://www.thebarentsobserver.com/ne... The Barents Observer – Unclear whether reactors will be fuelled before being towed around Scandinavia https://www.thebarentsobserver.com/ne... Marine Insight – Russia completes first RITM-200 reactor unit for floating nuclear power fleet https://www.marineinsight.com/russia-... Nuclear Engineering International – Rosatom floating power plant construction hub https://www.neimagazine.com/?p=107197 This video uses AI-generated visuals for illustration. Some scenes are dramatized reconstructions and may not depict the exact vessels, equipment, or locations. 🔔 Subscribe for a new megaproject every week.