How thick is the ice that an icebreaker breaks? The world's largest nuclear icebreaker has been launched. Nuclear icebreaker "Taimyr"

Giant construction site

The largest icebreaker in the world today is “50 Let Pobeda”. It was built in Russia in 2007 at the Baltic Shipyard. Construction of the icebreaker began in 1989, then was stopped due to a lack of funding, and resumed in the late nineties. The length of the icebreaker is 159 m, width - 30 m. The power plant consists of two reactors with a total power of 75,000 hp.

Such power could provide electricity to a modern metropolis with a population of 2,000,000 people. The icebreaker's displacement is 25 thousand tons. The giant is capable of speed 18 maritime knots overcome ice up to 2.8 m thick.

Virtues of a Champion

“50 Let Pobedy” is the eighth icebreaker built at the Baltic Shipyard, and is the result of a modernized project of nuclear-powered icebreakers of the “Arktika” type. During its development, the designers used the spoon-shaped bow tip, first used in the construction of the Canadian icebreaker Canmar Kigoriyak, which proved highly effective during sea trials.

The vessel is equipped with an automatic control system complex, which uses new generation digital sensors. The radiation and nuclear safety system of the power plant has also been modernized and has been re-certified by Gostekhnadzor. The nuclear-powered ship is equipped with a modern Anti-Terror security system. The environmental compartment of the icebreaker is equipped the latest equipment for the accumulation and disposal of waste produced during the life of the vessel.

Icebreaker equipment

The icebreaker has a crew of 138 people and can carry 128 passengers. The comfortable cabins are equipped with air conditioning, have separate bathrooms and toilets, safes, refrigerators, TVs, DVD players and telephones. Passenger cabins are divided into standard, junior suite, deluxe, Victoria suite and Arctic suite. The infrastructure also includes a restaurant and two bars, a music salon, a swimming pool with warm sea water, two saunas, a gym, a sports ground, a store, a library, a lecture hall, a hospital and a laundry.

Cruises to the North Pole are becoming increasingly popular, although this is, of course, an expensive type of vacation. Many are attracted by the opportunity to visit the northernmost geographical point of the Earth, to see marine life in natural conditions: seals, walruses, polar bears. Passenger access to the navigation bridge is not closed almost 24 hours a day.

Triumphal procession

Recently, “50 Years of Victory” completed another passage of sea tankers through the ice Gulf of Finland. More than 100 vessels used the services of the world's largest nuclear icebreaker during the scheduled passage.

Now let's start with the story...

The nuclear icebreaker Arktika went down in history as the first surface ship to reach the North Pole. The nuclear-powered icebreaker "Arktika" (from 1982 to 1986 was named "Leonid Brezhnev") is the lead ship of the Project 10520 series. The keel of the vessel took place on July 3, 1971 at the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad. More than 400 associations and enterprises, research and development organizations took part in the creation of the icebreaker, including the Experimental Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau named after. I. I. Afrikantov and Research Institute of Atomic Energy named after. Kurchatova.

The icebreaker was launched in December 1972, and in April 1975 the ship was put into operation.

The nuclear-powered icebreaker "Arktika" was designed to guide ships in the Arctic Ocean to perform various types of icebreaking work. The length of the vessel was 148 meters, width - 30 meters, side height - about 17 meters. The power of the nuclear steam generating plant exceeded 55 megawatts. Thanks to its technical characteristics, the nuclear-powered icebreaker could break through ice 5 meters thick and reach speeds of up to 18 knots in clear water.

The icebreaker Arktika's first voyage to the North Pole took place in 1977. This was a large-scale experimental project, within which scientists had to not only reach the geographic point of the North Pole, but also conduct a series of studies and observations, as well as test the capabilities of the Arktika and the stability of the vessel in a constant collision with ice. More than 200 people took part in the expedition.

On August 9, 1977, the nuclear-powered icebreaker left the port of Murmansk, heading for the archipelago New Earth. In the Laptev Sea, the icebreaker turned north.

And so on August 17, 1977, at 4 o’clock in the morning Moscow time, the nuclear icebreaker, having overcome the thick ice cover of the Central Polar Basin, for the first time in the world reached the geographical point of the North Pole in active navigation. In 7 days 8 hours, the nuclear-powered ship covered 2,528 miles. The age-old dream of sailors and polar explorers of many generations has come true. The crew and members of the expedition celebrated this event with a solemn ceremony of raising the State Flag of the USSR on a ten-meter steel mast installed on the ice. During the 15 hours that the nuclear-powered icebreaker spent on the top of the Earth, scientists carried out a complex of research and observations. Before leaving the Pole, the sailors lowered a commemorative metal plate with the image into the waters of the Arctic Ocean State emblem USSR and with the inscription “USSR. 60 years of October, a/l “Arktika”, latitude 90°-N, 1977.”

This icebreaker has high sides, four decks and two platforms, a forecastle and a five-tier superstructure, and three four-blade fixed-pitch propellers are used as propulsors. The nuclear steam production plant is located in a special compartment in the middle part of the icebreaker. The icebreaker's hull is made of high-strength alloy steel. In places exposed to the greatest ice loads, the hull is reinforced with an ice belt. The icebreaker has trim and roll systems. Towing operations are provided by a stern electric towing winch. To conduct ice reconnaissance, a helicopter is based on the icebreaker. Control and management technical means power plant operations are carried out automatically, without constant watch in engine rooms, propulsion motor rooms, power plants and at switchboards.

Operation control and control of the power plant are carried out from the central control station; additional control of the propulsion electric motors is located in the wheelhouse and aft station. The pilothouse is the ship's control center. On the nuclear-powered ship it is located on the top floor of the superstructure, from where a greater view opens. The pilothouse is stretched across the vessel - 25 meters from side to side, its width is about 5 meters. Large rectangular portholes are located almost entirely on the front and side walls. Inside the cabin there is only the most necessary things. Near the sides and in the middle there are three identical consoles, on which there are control knobs for the movement of the vessel, indicators for the operation of the icebreaker’s three propellers and the position of the rudder, direction indicators and other sensors, as well as buttons for filling and draining ballast tanks and a huge typhon button for sounding. Near the left side control panel there is a chart table, near the central one there is a steering wheel, and at the starboard side control panel there is a hydrological table; All-round radar stands are installed near the navigation and hydrological tables.


At the beginning of June 1975, the nuclear-powered icebreaker guided the diesel-electric icebreaker Admiral Makarov along the Northern Sea Route to the east. In October 1976, the icebreaker Ermak with the bulk carrier Kapitan Myshevsky, as well as the icebreaker Leningrad with the transport Chelyuskin, were rescued from ice captivity. The captain of the Arctic called those days the “finest hour” of the new nuclear-powered ship.

Arktika was decommissioned in 2008.

On July 31, 2012, the nuclear icebreaker Arktika, the first ship to reach the North Pole, was excluded from the Register of Ships.

According to information announced by representatives of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Rosatomflot to the press, the total cost of dismantling the Arktika a/l is estimated at 1.3-2 billion rubles, with funds allocated under the federal target program. Recently, there was a broad campaign to convince management of the refusal to dismantle and the possibility of modernizing this icebreaker.

Now let’s come closer to the topic of our post.


In November 2013, at the same Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg, the laying ceremony of the lead nuclear icebreaker of Project 22220 took place. In honor of its predecessor, the nuclear-powered icebreaker was named “Arktika”. The universal double-draft nuclear icebreaker LK-60Ya will become the largest and most powerful in the world.

According to the project, the length of the vessel will be more than 173 meters, width - 34 meters, draft at the design waterline - 10.5 meters, displacement - 33.54 thousand tons. It will be the largest and most powerful (60 MW) nuclear icebreaker in the world. The nuclear-powered ship will be equipped with a two-reactor power plant with the main source of steam from the RITM-200 reactor plant with a capacity of 175 MW.


On June 16, the Baltic Shipyard launched the lead nuclear icebreaker “Arktika” of Project 22220,” the company said in a statement, as quoted by RIA Novosti.

Thus, the designers passed one of the most important stages in the construction of the ship. "Arktika" will become the lead ship of Project 22220 and will give rise to a group of nuclear icebreakers necessary for the development of the Arctic and strengthening Russia's presence in this region.

First, the rector of the St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral baptized the nuclear icebreaker. Then Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko, following the traditions of shipbuilders, broke a bottle of champagne on the hull of the nuclear-powered ship.

“It is difficult to overestimate what has been done by our scientists, designers, and shipbuilders. There is a feeling of pride in our country, the people who created such a ship,” Matvienko said. She recalled that Russia is the only country that has its own nuclear icebreaker fleet, which will allow it to actively implement projects in the Arctic.

"We are reaching for quality new level development of this rich region,” she emphasized.

“Seven feet under your keel, great “Arktika”!” - added the speaker of the Federation Council.

In turn, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy for the Northwestern Federal District Vladimir Bulavin noted that Russia is building new ships, despite the difficult economic situation.

“If you like, this is our response to the challenges and threats of our time,” Bulavin said.

General Director of the Rosatom state corporation Sergei Kiriyenko, in turn, called the launch of the new icebreaker big victory and the designers and the staff of the Baltic Shipyard. According to Kiriyenko, the Arctic opens up “fundamentally new opportunities both in ensuring the defense capability of our country and in solving economic problems.”

Project 22220 vessels will be able to conduct caravans of ships in arctic conditions, breaking through ice up to three meters thick. The new ships will provide escort for vessels transporting hydrocarbons from the fields of the Yamal and Gydan Peninsulas, the Kara Sea shelf to the markets of the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. The double-draft design allows the vessel to be used both in Arctic waters and at the mouths of polar rivers.

Under a contract with FSUE Atomflot, the Baltic Shipyard will build three nuclear icebreakers of Project 22220. On May 26 last year, the first production icebreaker of this project, Siberia, was laid down. In the fall of this year, it is planned to begin construction of the second nuclear-powered icebreaker "Ural".

The contract for the construction of the lead nuclear icebreaker of Project 22220 between FSUE Atomflot and BZS was signed in August 2012. Its cost is 37 billion rubles. The contract for the construction of two serial nuclear icebreakers of Project 22220 was concluded between BZS and the state corporation Rosatom in May 2014, the cost of the contract was 84.4 billion rubles.

sources

The first icebreaker appeared back in the 18th century, it was a small steamship breaking ice in Philadelphia harbor. A lot of time has passed since then, the wheel was replaced by a turbine, then by a nuclear reactor, and now they are hacking arctic ice. Our TOP includes the 10 largest icebreakers in the world.

1 “Northern Sea Route”, length 260 meters

Strictly speaking, this is an icebreaking transport vessel, with a height of multi-storey building. But the Northern Sea Route is capable of traversing ice 1 meter thick, and who can say that it has not earned the title of icebreaker?

2 "Arctic", length 173 meters


Arktika is a nuclear icebreaker launched in 2016, the first in a series of new nuclear icebreakers Russian Federation. The icebreaker can break and move through ice up to 2.9 meters thick.

3 “50 Years of Victory”, length 159.6 meters


The nuclear-powered icebreaker of the Arktika class (sea, in contrast to the Taimyr class, river), is distinguished by a deep landing and impressive power. “50 Years of Victory” is a typical long-term construction project, the construction of which took place from 1989 to 2007. Despite the long start, by now the ship has already completed more than 100 trips to the North Pole.

4 “Taimyr”, length 151.8 meters


Taimyr is a nuclear-powered icebreaker that breaks ice up to 1.77 meters thick at river mouths so that ships can enter them. Features: reduced fit and the ability to work in extremely low temperatures.

5 “Vaigach”, length 151.8 meters


Brother of the Taimyr, built according to the same design, but a little younger. Nuclear equipment on the ship was installed in 1990.

6 “Yamal”, length 150 meters


“Yamal” is the same famous icebreaker on which the beginning of the third millennium was celebrated at the North Pole. In total, the number of flights to the North Pole is approaching 50.

7 “Healy”, length 128 meters


"Healy" is the most large icebreaker USA, where Americans reached the North Pole for the first time on their own in 2015. This vessel is literally crammed with the latest measuring and laboratory instruments, since its main function is research.

8 “Polar Sea”, length 122 meters


Another US icebreaker, an “old man” in the fleet, built in 1977. The home port is Seattle, but it seems that soon this icebreaker will be scrapped, and our Top Ten largest icebreakers will have to be rewritten.

9 "Louis S. St-Laurent", length 120 meters


The Canadian "Louis S. St-Laurent" was built even earlier - in 1969, but in 1993 it underwent a complete modernization. This is Canada's largest icebreaker, which in 1994 became the world's first ship to reach the North Pole from the shores of North America.

10 “Polarstern”, length 118 meters


This is a German vessel designed for research purposes, built in 1982. Its advanced age made its creators think about a replacement, and in 2017, Polarstern-II is expected to take over the Arctic watch watch.

Atomic - ships, built specifically for use in waters covered with ice all year round. They break ice with a specially adapted bow, and in some cases, with their stern.

Nuclear icebreakers much more powerful than diesel ones. They were designed in Russia to ensure navigation in the cold waters of the Arctic. One of the main advantages of the nuclear one is the absence of the need for frequent refueling, which can arise when sailing in ice, when such a possibility is not possible, or such refueling is very difficult. All nuclear ones have electrical transmission to the propellers. In winter, ice thickness in the Arctic Ocean varies from 1.2 to 2 m, and in some places reaches 2.5 m. Nuclear icebreakers capable of traveling in waters covered with such ice at a speed of 20 km/h (11 knots), and in ice-free waters - up to 45 km/h (up to 25 knots).

Since 1989, atomic ones have been used for tourist trips on North Pole. , which lasts three weeks, costs $25,000. For the first time atomic " Russia"was used for these purposes in 1989. Since 1991, nuclear power has been used for this purpose. Soviet Union"and since 1993 - nuclear " Yamal" It has a special section for tourists. Built in 2007 " 50 years of Victory"There is also the same section.

This icebreaker is used for cruise trips to Greenland

All ten nuclear powered ships in the world (although one of them is not actually an icebreaker, but with an icebreaker nose) were built in the USSR. These ships were built at the Admiralty Shipyards and the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg. Two icebreakers - river " Vaygach" And " Taimyr" - were built at the new Helsinki shipyards in Finland and then transported to Leningrad for the installation of nuclear reactors.

icebreaker "50 Years of Victory"

Today the largest in the world icebreaker ship is " 50 years of Victory"built at the Baltic Shipyard. The vessel is equipped with a new generation digital automatic control system. The complex of biological protection means for the nuclear power plant has been modernized. An ecological compartment has been created, equipped with the latest equipment for the collection and disposal of all waste products. vessel. Vessel belongs to the Russian Federation Federal State Unitary Enterprise " Atomflot».

Icebreaker technical data« 50 years of Victory»:

Length - 160 m;

Width - 30 m;

Draft - 11 m;

Displacement - 25,000 tons;

Power plant - 2 nuclear reactors with a power of 75,000 hp;

Cruising speed - 21.4 knots;

Maximum fuel reserve is about 4 years;

Crew - 140 people;

Passengers - 128 people;

Arktika-class icebreakers

Icebreakers class " Arctic" - the basis of the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet: 6 out of 10 nuclear icebreakers belong to the Arctic class. Since these icebreakers took thirty years to build, there are some differences between them. As a rule, new icebreakers are faster, more powerful and require smaller crews to operate.

Technical data of the Arktika-class icebreaker:

Length - 150 m;

Width - 30 m;

Draft - 11.08 m;

Height - 55;

Maximum speed: 25 knots;

Crew - 150 people (including 50 officers and engineers);

Passengers: 100 people;

Ship's power point : two reactors - 900 with a capacity of 171 MW;

Icebreakers this class has a double hull; the thickness of the outer casing in places where ice breaks is 48 mm, in other places - 25 mm. Between the hulls there are water ballast tanks, which serve to change the trim in difficult ice conditions. Some ships coated with a special polymer to reduce friction. Icebreakers This class can break ice by moving both forward and backward. These are designed to operate in cold arctic waters, which complicates the operation of a nuclear plant in warm seas. This is partly why crossing the tropics to work off the coast of Antarctica is not among their tasks. Typically, to ensure ship Only one of the ship's two reactors is sufficiently energetic, but both are used during voyage (at less than 50% power).

As a rule, on the class " Arctic" there are all the necessary amenities for the crew and passengers: swimming pool, sauna, cinema, Gym, bar, restaurant, library and Volleyball Court. For everyone nuclear powered ships class " Arctic" There is Helipad, for two helicopters that can be attached to them, for complex flights or tourist cruises.

June 16, 2016, Baltic Shipyard launched the lead nuclear icebreaker "Arktika" of project 22220. In the presence of several thousand spectators, the godmother of the icebreaker, Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko, broke a traditional bottle of champagne on the side of the icebreaker,

sending the largest and most powerful nuclear icebreaker in the world from the slipway, the press service of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) reports.

« Today is a special day for the Russian nuclear industry. The world's largest and most powerful nuclear icebreaker "Arktika" left the slipway of the Baltic Shipyard. A harsh region requires harsh technology. I am sure that the icebreaker “Arktika” will give a new impetus to the development of the Arctic latitudes. I am very glad that young shipbuilders are entering the industry and continuing everything that has been accumulated by other generations of shipbuilders. Thanks to the shipbuilders of this creation. You look at it, and you are filled with such pride for the country and the people who are building it. Thank you for preserving the St. Petersburg shipbuilding school. Our country is proud of the result of such work! Seven feet under your keel, great "Arctic", - wished Valentina Matvienko.

The Kirov Plant shipped a turbine for the icebreaker "Arktika" to the Baltic Shipyard >>

The day of the launching of the nuclear icebreaker symbolically coincided with the start of the Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.

The General Director of Rosatom, the customer of Project 22220 nuclear icebreakers, Sergei Kiriyenko, in his welcoming speech noted: “ Today's event is a huge victory in every sense! A lot of work has been done, and today there are no analogues to such an icebreaker as the Arktika in the world. Thanks to the team of the Baltic Shipyard, everything was done according to schedule, and by the end of 2017 the Arktika will go into operation. This icebreaker is the most modern in its characteristics; it implements all the technical capabilities that have never been used on other ships before. The icebreaker "Arktika" is truly new opportunities for our country!»

After the command of the chief builder of the lead nuclear-powered ship Vadim Golovanov to begin launching, the retainer holding back more than 14,000 tons of the ship’s hull weight was cut, and the Arktika smoothly descended into the waters of the Neva River.

Ahead of the shipbuilders« Baltic Shipyard-Shipbuilding» completion of the lead nuclear-powered vessel on the water, contract delivery date is December 2017*.

* The construction of the lead nuclear icebreaker LK-60Ya “Arktika” required the intervention of Vladimir Putin - only he was able to decide to shift the project from 2017 to 2019. Serial "Sibir" and "Ural" will be delivered in 2021 and 2022. Failure to meet deadlines, one of the key reasons for which was Russia’s conflict with Russia, could turn into a scandal: the president has already ordered “personnel, organizational and management decisions” to be made, the Accounts Chamber, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the FSB will begin inspections. Both the customer Rosatom and the contractors, in particular USC, can answer. But you shouldn’t expect high-profile layoffs, because the project was launched back when Rosatom was headed by the first deputy head of the presidential administration, Sergei Kiriyenko.

In May 2017, Vladimir Putin instructed to postpone the delivery date of the lead nuclear icebreaker LK-60Ya Arktika from 2017 to 2019. In addition, the president demanded that personnel, organizational and management decisions be made in connection with the failure of the government contract. In parallel, the Accounts Chamber, the Prosecutor General's Office and the FSB must conduct an audit of the project.

The world's second largest nuclear icebreaker left the slipway of the Baltic Shipyard >>

FSUE Atomflot (owns nuclear icebreakers, controlled by Rosatom) and Baltic Shipyard (BZS, part of USC) agreed on the construction of the Arctic in 2012; money for the icebreaker - 37 billion rubles - was allocated by the budget. In 2014, a contract was signed for 2 more icebreakers of the series - Sibir and Ural - for 84.4 billion rubles. "Arktika" was supposed to be commissioned at the end of 2017, "Siberia" - at the end of 2019, "Ural" - at the end of 2020.

Turbines became the key problem of the Arctic. They were supposed to be supplied by the Ukrainian Kharkov Turbine Plant, but after 2014 the supplier had to be replaced by KEM (inaccuracy - in fact, KhTZ was not supposed to supply turbines; when in 2013 KEM won the tender for the production of turbine units, it was planned that they would be manufactured at the Kirov Plant turbines can only be tested at KhTZ, where there is a special stand for this -). A government source says that there are no serious technical difficulties: the first turbine is being tested at the KEM stand, the second should be tested by October. USC complained about personnel problems, a large time gap in the implementation of such projects, loss of competencies, reworking of the technical design and documentation.

In general, icebreaker contractors shift the blame for missed deadlines onto each other. Thus, USC believes that the weak links in cooperation were the manufacturers of steam turbine units (STE) and electric propulsion systems (Federal State Unitary Enterprise Krylov State science Center" - Krylov State Research Center). The Kirov plant reported that during the execution of the contract for the Arctic, checks are carried out that “do not reveal any violations of the law on the part of the plant.” The company added that the Krylov State Scientific Center delayed the delivery of generators by more than two years. The executive director of the Krylov State Research Center, Mikhail Zagorodnikov, believes that the delay is USC’s fault: the competition was held for five months, and although the technical design was ready in 2009, detailed design began only in 2013.

BZS also missed the delivery deadlines for both the LK-25 diesel icebreaker Viktor Chernomyrdin and the floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov.

The nuclear-powered icebreakers Taimyr and Vaygach are currently in operation, their service life is nuclear installations is being extended, which cannot happen indefinitely, when the icebreaker “Yamal” leaves, only the icebreaker “50 Let Pobedy” will remain from the “Arctic” class. If by 2022 there are only four icebreakers, this will not be enough, since a sharp increase in cargo traffic from oil and gas fields, from Vostok Coal and Norilsk Nickel is predicted, and there are attempts to increase transit along the Northern Sea Route. By 2022, at least two new double-draft icebreakers should be built.

Help 24RosInfo:

The lead nuclear icebreaker of Project 22220 is being built to the class of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping at« Baltic Shipyard-Shipbuilding» commissioned by the Rosatom State Corporation (the keel of the vessel took place on November 5, 2013) and will become the largest and most powerful nuclear icebreaker in the world.

Main characteristics of the Project 22220 nuclear icebreaker:

power.....60 MW (on shafts);

speed.....22 knots (in clear water);

length.....173.3 m (160 m along the vertical line);

width.....34 m (33 m along the vertical line);

height.....15.2 m;

draft.....10.5 m/8.65 m;

maximum ice penetration.....2.8 m;

total displacement.....33 540 t;

assigned service life.....40 years.

 

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