Relations between Russia and Western nations have been in the deep freeze since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but Norway has been keen to keep some limited cooperation alive through the Arctic Council.

The US placed Arctic LNG 2 under direct sanctions in November, in effect blocking its allies from buying the project’s gas when it starts production. The move followed an EU ban on the transfer of LNG-related technology to Russia in April 2022, two months after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The small modular reactor (SMR) is a water-cooled RITM-200N 55 MW reactor that has been adapted from the RITM-200 series used to power Russia's latest fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers. It will be built near Ust-Kuyga in Yakutia (also known as Sakha) in Russia's Arctic north, with the aim of commissioning in 2028.

JOGMEC's fulfillment of the loan guarantee, however, does not mean the end of JARC's participation with a 10% stake in the Arctic LNG 2 project, a JOGMEC official said Feb. 5, adding that the relevant Japanese parties will carefully respond while ascertaining sanctions developments.

The joint plans of Rosatom and the region include projects for the development of energy infrastructure and the construction of a shift village, landing strip, roads and sea pier, as well as the construction of the world's first low-power nuclear power plant with a Shelf-M reactor of up to 10 MWe.

Russia has delivered the first drop of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its heavily sanctioned flagship project, Arctic LNG-2.

Russia is eyeing the Northern Sea Route across the Arctic Ocean to supply the cargoes to the east, to cut the time and cost of bringing its fuel to market.

Russia’s Novatek PJSC, which leads the Arctic LNG 2 project, sent force majeure notices to some of the facility’s buyers,

The energy system for the remote region is a standalone one run by Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company, part of the Norilsk Nickel group. The city of Norilsk is within the Arctic circle in Russia's north, and has a population of more than 170,000 people.

Mitsui joined the Arctic LNG 2 project in 2019 via a subsidiary called Japan Arctic LNG, which secured substantial financial support from state-owned Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) as part of wider Japanese efforts to ensure stable LNG supply and diversify import sources.

Rosatom said that the design met "all post-Fukushima safety requirements for the modern NPP design - this is a compact modular nuclear power plant, featuring reduced construction time compared with large nuclear power plants".

A frozen USA, with more than 200 million people under severe weather advisories or warnings caused nationwide problems in the run-up to Christmas.