Russia launched the world's first floating nuclear reactor, sending it on an epic journey across the Arctic on Friday, despite environmentalists warning of a "Chernobyl on ice." /VCG Photo

The 144-meter long and 30-meter wide vessel, named the Akademik Lomonosov after the 18th-century Russian scientist, houses two nuclear reactors. /VCG Photo

Loaded with nuclear fuel, it left the Arctic port of Murmansk to begin its 5,000-kilometer voyage to Pevek in northeastern Siberia on Friday. /VCG Photo

Once docked, the 21,000-ton barge will replace a coal-burning power plant and an ageing land-based nuclear plant and will supply 50,000 people in the area with electricity, according to Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom. /VCG Photo