It was constructed by Russian state nuclear power firm Rosatom. It has been named after Russian Academician and scientist Mikhail Lomonosov.

• It follow examples of nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers and icebreakers which have long used nuclear power, and are intended for isolated areas with little infrastructure.
• It is fitted with 2 modified KLT-40 naval propulsion nuclear reactors (each of 35 MW capacities) together providing up to 70 MW of electricity and 300 MW of heat.
• It will be primarily used to power oil rigs in untapped Artic region’s remote areas where Russia is pushing to drill for oil and gas since global warming and melting ice has made earlier ice covered Northeast Passage (connecting Atlantic Ocean to Pacific along Russia’s northern coast) more accessible.
• Environmentalists and critics have dubbed Akademik Lomonosov’s as ‘nuclear Titanic’ or ‘Chernobyl on ice’ citing to previous Russian and Soviet nuclear accidents (1986 Chernobyl disaster).