Specialists at Russia’s Baltic Plant (BZ – Balkisky Zavod) in St Petersburg together with representatives of co-operating organisations have launched the right-side reactor unit on the nuclear icebreaker Yakutia. The reactor was brought to minimum controlled power level, and the launch equipment was calibrated.
Yakutia is the fourth vessel to be built as part of project 22220. To date, three icebreakers of project 22220 are operating in the Arctic waters with the construction of the third and fourth ships is underway.
Arktika, the first of three LK-60 icebreakers, entered service in 2020 followed by Sibir in 2021 and Ural in 2022. Under construction are as well as Yakutia, are Chukotka, Leningrad and Stalingrad in addition to a lead multifunctional nuclear maintenance vessel.
Project 22220 vessels are powered by two RITM-200 pressurised water reactors, mounted side by side, which produce total thermal power of up to 350 MWt which converts to 60 MWe at the propellers. The length of each is 173.3 metres, and the width 34 metres, with a displacement of 33,500 tonnes. They are able to break through ice up to 3 metres thick. The icebreakers are used to escort vessels with hydrocarbon raw materials from the fields of the Yamal and Gydan Peninsulas and from the Kara Sea shelf to the markets of the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.
“The physical launch [of the reactor] is the result of the painstaking and intense work of many specialists. They carried out a huge amount of commissioning work and completed all the necessary tests of systems and equipment,” said BZ Director General Alexander Konovalov. “The most important stage in the construction of an icebreaker has now begun, during which the nuclear heart of the ship will beat at full power. Complex mooring tests will then take place, after which Yakutia will be able to go to sea for the first time to conduct sea trials.”
Before launch, fuel assemblies were loaded into the reactor. The physical start-up of the installation took place normally. Upon completion of work on the left-side reactor, specialists will begin comprehensive tests of the entire Yakutia nuclear power plant, consisting of two RITM-200 reactors.
The RITM-200 was developed by OKBM Afrikantov (a Rosatom enterprise). A distinctive feature of the reactor is its integrated layout. Due to this, the reactor is two times lighter, one and a half times more compact and 25 MW more powerful than the previous reactor plants used for the KLT type icebreaker fleet. This made it possible to make the icebreakers of Project 22220 with double-draft, providing improved technical characteristics in terms of speed and ice-breaking capacity. The design of the reactors allows them to operate reliably when the nuclear-powered ship is rolling with an oscillation amplitude of 45 degrees and pitching of 15 degrees. The service life of the reactors is 40 years.
Yakutia is nearing completion; Chukotka is due for completion in 2026 followed by Leningrad and Stalingrad in 2028 and 2030. The construction of the maintenance vessel should be completed in 2029. Its main task will be to ensure the refuelling of reactor plants used in Project 22220 nuclear icebreakers.
