The world’s most powerful nuclear icebreaker

Russia is promoting plans to develop the world’s leading nuclear icebreaker model with a federal budget of nearly 1 billion USD in the next 3 years to complete Rossiya. Rossiya is Russia’s largest nuclear icebreaker. It is expected that the ship will possess a 120 MW nuclear plant, twice as powerful as any previous nuclear icebreaker. Interesting Engineering reported on October 15.

Nuclear icebreakers integrate a nuclear power plant that produces energy for the ship’s propulsion system. Despite their higher operating costs, these icebreakers offer important advantages over diesel-powered ships, especially along the North Sea route. Icebreaking requires large amounts of electricity, limited refueling options along the Siberian coast, and the required endurance makes diesel ships difficult to operate in this region. Up to now, Russia is the only country that builds and operates nuclear icebreakers. They have developed a number of ships since the (former) Soviet era to promote shipping along the North Sea route and support bases in the Arctic.

Weighing 69,700 tons, Rossiya will be powered by electricity from two RITM-400 reactors. The ability to break through 4 m thick ice makes Rossiya a key means to enhance maritime transport activities in the Arctic region. The Rossiya nuclear icebreaker will play an important role in promoting year-round shipping throughout the Arctic. With a beam of 48 m, the ship is designed to create wide paths on the ice, helping liquefied gas carriers and oil tankers travel safely through the harshest areas of Russia’s North Sea route, especially especially in eastern Siberia and the Chukchi Sea.

As China seeks to establish a regular container shipping route in the Arctic, Rossiya could escort cargo fleets in the future. Construction of the Rossiya icebreaker began at Russia’s Zvezda yard on July 7, 2020 but encountered many major obstacles, leading to the delivery time being pushed back from 2027 to 2030. Currently, the ship has only been completed about 15 years ago. – 20%. The flagship icebreaker model will play a key role in helping export resources to Asia, especially China, during the winter months.

By 2030, Atomflot, the company that operates Russia’s basic icebreaker fleet, aims to deploy 17 ships along the North Sea route, including 13 nuclear ships and 4 conventional ships. Currently, Atomflot has 7 nuclear icebreakers in operation. To optimize resources, the company plans to use conventional icebreakers in the bays of the Ob and Yenisey rivers, allowing all icebreakers to focus on the more challenging eastern sector.