Rosatom's Podolsk Machine-Building Plant Completes Manufacture of the Second RITM-200S Reactor for the First PEB-106 Floating Nuclear Power Plant

The Moscow Region enterprise "Podolsk Machine-Building Plant" (PAO «ЗиО-Подольск» / ZiO-Podolsk), part of the mechanical engineering division of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom (Госкорпорация «Росатом» / Rosatom), has successfully manufactured the second RITM-200S (РИТМ-200С) reactor unit. This reactor will be installed on the PEB-106 (ПЭБ-106) floating nuclear power unit, designed specifically to ensure power supply for the large copper mining industrial cluster in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (Чукотский автономный округ / Chukotka Autonomous Okrug). The equipment has successfully passed hydraulic tests (Гидравлические испытания) confirming its structural strength, and a full-scale trial assembly (Контрольная сборка) verified absolute conformity of components with the design drawings.

Anton Lebedev (Антон Лебедев / Anton Lebedev), head of the Podolsk Machine-Building Plant, noted that 2026 is a landmark year in the plant's history, as the enterprise for the first time completed the task of manufacturing a complete set of RITM-series reactors for a floating nuclear power plant serving Russia's northern industrial cluster, setting a production record of four units of the same series completed within the year and another five in various stages of manufacture. The first PEB-106 unit is designed to be equipped with two RITM-200S reactors in total; the first unit was completed in May 2026 and delivered to the shipyard (Верфь), awaiting subsequent integrated hoisting and docking.

The RITM-200 series is a new-generation marine reactor unit (Судовая реакторная установка) developed specifically for Russia's nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet. Its compact design reduces volume to two-thirds that of the previous generation while substantially increasing output power. These technical characteristics give the new-generation nuclear-powered vessels extremely high navigational adaptability, enabling them not only to break ice up to three meters thick in deep waters but also to navigate smoothly into shallow northern river estuaries. Their stable operation under extreme polar climate conditions has laid the engineering foundation for extending small reactor technology to remote land and sea areas.

In the collaborative manufacturing chain for RITM-series reactors, the Afrikantov Experimental Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering (АО «ОКБМ Африкантов» / OKBM Afrikantov) in Nizhny Novgorod serves as chief designer and complete equipment supplier, AEM-Spetstal (ООО «АЭМ-Спецсталь» / AEM-Spetstal) in St. Petersburg is responsible for the production of key forgings and metallurgical blanks, and the Podolsk plant leads pressure vessel shell processing, final assembly inspection, and final testing. To date, the industry has manufactured a total of 16 RITM-series reactors, of which 8 have entered actual operation on new-generation nuclear-powered icebreakers including the "Arktika" («Арктика»), "Ural" («Урал»), "Sibir" («Сибирь»), and "Yakutia" («Якутия»), while another 12 are in various stages of production.

Facing rising global demand for small modular nuclear energy (Малая атомная энергетика), floating power units combining mobility and long-cycle power supply capability are reshaping the form of coastal and remote power grids. The world's first floating nuclear power plant, the "Akademik Lomonosov" («Академик Ломоносов»), which has been in operation in the Chukotka sea area since 2020, has cumulatively generated nearly 1.4 billion kWh; and the PEB-106 project, now advancing toward serial production, not only covers multiple power configurations adapted to high-latitude and tropical waters but will also create the world's first application demonstration of floating nuclear power plants providing long-term stable zero-carbon electricity for giant industrial production projects.