The ambitious plan initiated by the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the 1950s led to the construction of powerful icebreakers to escort cargo ships through the ice-covered waters and extend the navigating season in the Russian Arctic.

[8] Similarly, both the West German Otto Hahn and the Japanese Mutsu were intended to be research ships and to provide experience from nuclear propulsion; the latter also never carried any commercial cargo.

[11][12] The keel of "Project 10081" was laid at Zaliv Shipyard in Kerch, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, on 1 June 1982 and the ship was launched on 20 February 1986.

[14] After leaving the shipyard and entering commercial service, Sevmorput sailed through the Mediterranean and around Africa until finally reaching the Soviet Far East.

In addition the harbour workers also refused to load or unload any cargo or provide any port services due to fears of radiation leakage.

[15] The initial plan was to utilize Sevmorput in international transport, and the Soviet government applied for a permission to have the ship make several stops in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in March 1990.

However, the permission was denied because the evacuation and emergency response measures of the city were not deemed adequate in case of an accident involving the ship's nuclear reactor.

[15] In August 2007, it was reported that Sevmorput would be converted into the world's first nuclear-powered drillship due to lack of demand for cargo operators for lighters and the need of specialized drilling vessels in the Russian Arctic.

[15] In late October 2012, it was reported that Sevmorput, which had been lying idle at the Atomflot base outside Murmansk since 2007, had been removed from the Russian Ship Register in July and would be sold for scrap.

[31] On 21 March 2019, Sevmporput sailed for the first time from Archangelsk to Utrenneye (Salmanovskoye) natural gas field at Gyda Peninsula to transport 17,000 tons of construction goods for Novatek's Arctic LNG-2 project.

[36] After transporting a second shipment of fish from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Saint Petersburg in September 2020,[37] reportedly on the orders of President Vladimir Putin,[38] Sevmorput loaded prefabricated building modules for the new Vostok Station in Antarctica and departed on 5 October.

[41][42] On 26 November, it was confirmed that Sevmorput would have to head back to Saint Petersburg for repairs and the construction of the new Vostok station would be postponed to 2021 due to deteriorating ice conditions in Antarctica.

[44] Although metal fatigue, foreign object and improper operation were all considered potential explanations, the root cause of the propeller blade failure could not be determined.

[49] However, the anchor retrieved from the seabed next to the damaged pipeline was later identified as having come from the Chinese container ship Newnew Polar Bear that sailed alongside Sevmorput at the time of the incident.

The fire was reportedly contained in one of the vessel's cabins and affected an area of about 30 square metres (320 sq ft), was promptly extinguished, and caused no injuries.

[2][55][56] Special attention was paid to the safety aspects of the vessel and, in addition to running aground or colliding with the reinforced bow of an icebreaker, the Soviet naval architects even took into account the possibility of a passenger aircraft crashing on Sevmorput.

The reactor core contains 150.7 kilograms (332 lb) of 30–40- or 90-percent[note 1] enriched uranium in uranium-zirconium alloy[57] and has reportedly required refueling only twice.

The nuclear power plant on board the vessel produces 215 tons of steam per hour at a pressure level of 40 atm (4.1 MPa) and temperature of 290 °C (554 °F).

The lighters are loaded and unloaded with a large gantry crane, manufactured by KONE, with a span of 21.3 metres (70 ft) and lifting capacity of 500 tons.