The Rossita, a ship designed to transport nuclear waste including spent fuel from Russian submarines, was launched in the northern Italian port La Spezia, Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri said on Thursday.
The vessel, which cost 70 million euros, will be delivered to Russia in 2011, where it will be used by Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom. The 84 meter-long vessel can carry 640 tons of cargo.
Rossita was built as part of an intergovernmental agreement between Russian and Italy for decommissioning of Russian nuclear submarines and reprocessing of nuclear waste.
The agreement was sealed during the G8 summit in Canada in 2003, when world leaders set up the Global Partnership against the spread of weapons of mass destruction and associated materials.
Russian Trade and Industry Minister Viktor Khristenko and Italian Economic Development Minister Paolo Romani took part in the ship's launching ceremony.
ROME, December 16 (RIA Novosti)
