On October 21, the state flag of the Russian Federation was raised on board FSUE Atomflot’s (a ROSATOM company) universal nuclear-powered icebreaker “Arktika” in Murmansk. The list of event attendees included Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Yuri Borisov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Alexey Likhachev, ROSATOM State Atomic Energy Corporation Director General, Alexey Rakhmanov, General Director of JSC United Shipbuilding Corporation, FSUE Atomflot Director General Mustafa Kashka, Alexey Kadilov, Director General of JSC Baltic Shipyard, and others .
Alexey Likhachev addressed the participants and guests of the ceremony with a welcoming speech. “This confirms absolute and unrivaled leadership of the Russian Federation in the Arctic Region. At the nearest time we expect to lay the keel of the “Chukotka” nuclear icebreaker. Another keel laying procedure is scheduled at “Zvezda” Shipyard for the “Leader” superpower nuclear icebreaker in the Far East”, he said.
The ceremony of signing the transfer and acceptance act took place on board of the Project 22220 “Arktika” nuclear-powered icebreaker. Mustafa Kashka and Alexey Kadilov signed the certificate of transfer and acceptance.
“The lead universal nuclear-powered icebreaker “Arktika” starts a new series of vessels, which will determine the future of the Northers Sea Route,” said Mustafa Kashka. “Project 22220 icebreakers meet the highest safety requirements applied for operation in the Arctic Region. The technical specifications of our nuclear icebreakers meet the demands of our partners: power capacity, sea endurance and reliability.”
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The lead universal nuclear-powered icebreaker of Project 22220 was built by JSC Baltic Shipyard under the order of ROSATOM State Atomic Energy Corporation (the keel was laid on November 5, 2013; the vessel was launched on June 16, 2016). The construction of serial universal nuclear-powered icebreaker “Siberia”, “Ural” and “Yakutia” is currently underway.
Main characteristics of the vessel: length: 173,3 meters (160 m, dwl); width: 34 meters (33 m, dwl); height – 15.2 meters; power capacity: 60 mw (on propeller shafts); cruising speed: 22 knots (in clear water); draft – 10.5 meters/8.65 meters; maximum ice penetration – 2.9 meters; displacement – 33 540 tons; estimated service life – 40 years; number of crew – 53 people. The vessel’s dual-draft concept allows for operating it both in the Arctic and in the mouths of the polar rivers, in particular in shallower areas of the Yenisei estuary and the Ob Bay area.
“Iceberg” Central Design Bureau designed the technical project of the icebreaker in 2009. The icebreaker is equipped with specially designed two new generation RITM-200 reactors and a steam turbine unit with an overall power capacity of 175 MW. RITM-200 is an innovative and unique design developed by of one of the oldest design bureaus of the nuclear industry – OKBM Afrikantov (Nizhny Novgorod, part of JSC Atomenergomash). The rich experience of the construction and operation of reactors for nuclear icebreakers as well as modern trends of the world nuclear power engineering were the basis for the design of RITM-200. RITM-200 is almost twice as light and compact as previous reactors, therefore it is cheaper in terms of material intensity and takes less space on the vessel and thus more economically efficient. Such a solution is structurally achieved due to the fact that steam generators, which were previously located outside the reactor, are now located directly in it, which is called an integrated layout.
On October 12, the lead universal nuclear-powered icebreaker “Arktika” returned from St. Petersburg to the port of registry in Murmansk. The vessel is moored at the berths of the FSUE Atomflot base. In 21 days, the nuclear-powered icebreaker of Project 22220 covered about 4800 nautical miles. During the passage, the nuclear-powered icebreaker came to the geographic point of the North Pole so that specialists could collect the maximum amount of data about the operation of the nuclear icebreaker in ice conditions. The obtained results confirm the design characteristics of the vessel. At 50 percent of its power, the nuclear-powered icebreaker overcame all the floes, the vessel fell within the polar region. This was achieved due to the unique hull form of the ship.