Arktika (2016 icebreaker)
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | Arktika (Арктика - Arctic) |
| Operator: | Rosatomflot, Rosatom |
| Builder: | Baltic Shipyard, Saint Petersburg |
| Laid down: | 5 November 2013 |
| Launched: | 16 June 2016 |
| In service: | 2017 (planned) |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | LK-60Ya-class icebreaker |
| Displacement: | 33,540 tonnes |
| Length: | 173.3 m (569 ft) |
| Beam: | 34 m (112 ft) |
| Height: | 15.2 m (50 ft) |
| Draught: | 10.5 m (34 ft) |
| Propulsion: |
Nuclear-turbo-electric; twin turbine-generators; three shafts 81,000 hp (60,000 kW) (combined) |
| Speed: | 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) |
| Crew: | 74 |
NS Arktika (Russian: Арктика) is a nuclear-powered icebreaker of the Russian LK-60Ya class icebreakers.[1]
Construction of the ship began in the Baltic Shipyard (Baltiysky Zavod), a subsidiary of USC (United Shipbuilding Corporation), in St. Petersburg on 5 November 2013 and the ship was launched on 16 June 2016.[2] For further information on the ship's design, construction and propulsion system, see LK-60Ya class icebreaker.[3]
Designed for 40 years of reactor life, Arktika will require refuelling every seven years with less than 20% uranium-235 enriched fuel.[4] The new icebreaker is able to navigate through ice up to almost three meters thick.[5][6] This vessel is designed to operate in the cold Arctic waters, it cannot traverse to the Antarctic: in the course of such a voyage, the temperature in some compartments would rise to 50 degrees Celsius even at low reactor power settings.[7] The cost of one RITM-200 reactor is 8 billion rubles (US$0.13 billion).[8]
On 2 September 2016, Baltic Shipyard installed the first RITM-200 nuclear reactor steam generator and twenty days later completed the installation of the second RITM-200 nuclear reactor. Each reactor has a 175 MW thermal capacity.[9][10]
References
- ↑ "The Nuclear icebreaker fleet". www.rosatom.ru. State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM. May 2016. Archived from the original on 21 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- ↑ Fingas, Jon (20 June 2016). "Russia debuts the largest ever nuclear icebreaker". www.engadget.com. AOL Inc. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- ↑ "Russia completes second reactor vessel for Arktika". www.world-nuclear-news.org. World Nuclear Association. 9 May 2016. Archived from the original on 10 May 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- ↑ "Project 22220 / Project LK-60 / Arktika". www.globalsecurity.org. Archived from the original on 7 January 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- ↑ Eilertsen, Hege (12 August 2014). "New Russian Icebreakers Ready to Operate from 2017". www.highnorthnews.com. High North News. Archived from the original on 21 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- ↑ "Russia's Maiden Nuclear Icebreaker to Be Floated Out in Mid-2016". www.sputniknews.com. 20 May 2016. Archived from the original on 21 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- ↑ Karlov, Artur (22 January 2014). "Icehunters: Russian conquerors of the North Pole". www.rbth.com. High North News. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- ↑ "The biggest and powerful nuclear Russian Arctic ice breaker in the world will be floated in May, 2016". www.iecca.ru. Center for Strategic Studies and forecasts. 14 January 2016. Archived from the original on 21 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- ↑ "RITM-200 nuclear reactor equips Arktika icebreaker". rbth.com. RBTH Network (Russia Beyond The Headlines - Rossiyskaya Gazeta). 23 September 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
- ↑ "RITM-200 nuclear reactor fitted aboard Russia's Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreaker Arktika". www.navyrecognition.com. 24 September 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-05. Retrieved 5 October 2016.