(CNN) Mary Ilyushina June 30 2019 Murmansk Russia - Next month a floating nuclear power plant called the Akademik Lomonosov will be towed via the Northern Sea Route to its final destination in the Far East after almost two decades in construction. Its part of Russias ambition to bring electric power to a mineral-rich region. The 144-meter (472 feet) long platform painted in the colors of the Russian flag is going to float next to a small Arctic port town of Pevek some 4000 miles away from Moscow. It will supply electricity to settlements and companies extracting hydrocarbons and precious stones in the Chukotka region. A larger agenda is at work too: aiding President Vladimir Putins ambitious Arctic expansion plans which have raised geopolitical concerns in the United States. The Akademik Lomonosov will be the northernmost operating nuclear plant in the world and its key to plans to develop the region economically. About 2 million Russians reside near the Arctic coast in villages and towns similar to Pevek settlements that are often reachable only by plane or ship if the weather permits. But they generate as much as 20 of the countrys GDP and are key for Russian plans to tap into the hidden Arctic riches of oil and gas as Siberian reserves diminish.
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