Arktika Class Icebreaker
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The ''Arktika'' class is a Russian (formerly
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
) class of
nuclear-powered icebreaker A nuclear-powered icebreaker is an icebreaker with an Nuclear marine propulsion, onboard nuclear power plant that produces power for the vessel's propulsion system. Although more expensive to operate, nuclear-powered icebreakers provide a number ...
s. Also known by their Russian designations Project 10520 (first two ships) and Project 10521 (from third ship onwards), they were the world's largest and most powerful icebreakers until the 2016 launch of the first
Project 22220 icebreaker Project 22220, also known through the Russian type size series designation LK-60Ya,The type size series designation "LK-60Ya" () comes from the Russian language word for "icebreaker" (), propulsion power (60 megawatts), and the first letter of ...
, also named '' Arktika''. Ships of the ''Arktika'' class are owned by the
federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
, but were operated by the
Murmansk Shipping Company Murmansk Shipping Company (), often abbreviated as MSCO, was a Russian shipping company based in Murmansk. It was one of the primary shipping companies operating in Arctic Russia and northern Europe, in 2014 the company had 303 vessels, with a to ...
(MSCO) until 2008, when they were transferred to the fully
state-owned corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...
Atomflot. Of the ten civilian nuclear-powered vessels built by Russia or the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, six were of this type. They are used for escorting merchant ships in the
Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...
north of
Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
as well as for scientific and recreational expeditions to the
Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...
.


History

On July 3, 1971, construction began on a conceptual design of a larger nuclear icebreaker, dubbed '' Arktika'', in the
Baltic Shipyard The OJSC Baltic Shipyard (''Baltiysky Zavod'', formerly Shipyard 189 named after Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze) () is one of the oldest shipyards in Russia and is part of United Shipbuilding Corporation today. It is located in Saint Petersburg in th ...
in then
Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
.Olagaard, P. Reistad, O. (April 2006). Russian Nuclear Power Plants for Marine Applications Four years later, on December 17, 1975, the first ship completed
sea trials A sea trial or trial trip is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on o ...
.Pike, J. Project 10520 Arktika/ Global Security.Org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/10520.htm ''Arktika'' was the first surface ship to reach the
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
, on August 17, 1977. As the leading vessel in Russia's second nuclear icebreaker class, ''Arktika'' became the classification name for five icebreakers to follow: the '' Sibir'' in 1977, '' Rossiya'' in 1985, '' Sovetskiy Soyuz'' in 1989, the ''Yamal'' in 1992 and the ''
50 Let Pobedy ''50 Let Pobedy'' (; "50 Years of Victory", referring to the anniversary of victory of the Soviet Union in World War II) is a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker. The ship was laid down in the Soviet Union in 1989, and construction was halted b ...
'' in 2007. The first of new class of nuclear icebreakers, Project 22220, was launched in 2016. Also called ''Arktika'', it was launched in anticipation of decreasing ice and increased traffic.


Design and construction


OK-900A reactors

Over the period December 1967 to May 1970, ''Lenin'', precursor of the ''Arktika'' and the first nuclear-propelled icebreaker, had its three OK-150 reactors, capable of 90 MW each, replaced with two OK-900 reactors, capable of 159 MW each. The work was carried out at the Zvezdochka yard in
Severodvinsk Severodvinsk (; ) is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina, west of Arkhangelsk, the administrative center of the oblast. As of the 2021 Census, the population was 157,213. Due to the p ...
. ''Arktika'' and the entire ''Arktika''-class icebreaker fleet are outfitted with two OK-900A reactors, which deliver 171 MW each. Each reactor is contained in its own closed compartment and weighs 160 tonnes. They are shielded by water, steel, and high density concrete, and ambient radiation is monitored throughout the ship by 86 sensors. The reactors were originally fueled by a 90% enriched, zirconium-clad,
uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...
fuel. Those reactors still in operation today now use a 20%-90% enriched with 60% average enrichment uranium dispersed in an
aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
matrix.Bukharin, O. (2006), Russia's Nuclear Icebreaker Fleet. Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. The chain reaction can be stopped in 0.6 seconds by the full insertion of safety rods. ''Arktika'' consumes up to 200 grams of fuel a day when breaking ice. There are 500 kg of uranium isotopes in each reactor, allowing for at least 13.7 years between changing reactor cores. The used cores are extracted and replaced in Murmansk, the spent fuel reprocessed and waste disposed of at a
radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...
plant.


Propulsion

The OK-900A is a
pressurized water reactor A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan, India and Canada). In a PWR, water is used both as ...
, meaning that cooling water is continually pumped under pressure through the reactor to remove heat, keeping the cores and the reactor cool. The heated water is pumped from the reactor to a
boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...
(four boilers per reactor), where it transfers its heat into another body of water, producing steam at a rate of 30 kgf/cm2 (2.94 MPa, or approximately 1,084 psi). Each set of four boilers drives two
steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...
s, which turn three
dynamo "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos employed electromagnets for self-starting by using residual magnetic field left in the iron cores ...
s. One kilovolt of
direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional electric current, flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor (material), conductor such as a wire, but can also flow throug ...
is then delivered to three double-wound motors directly connected to the
propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...
, providing an average screw velocity of 120-180 rpm. Five auxiliary steam turbines are tied into the plant to provide electricity, turning generators with a cumulative electric power of 10 MW. Three fixed-pitch propellers provide ''Arktika'' with its thrust, power, and maneuverability. The starboard and centerline propellers turn clockwise while the port turns counter clockwise to compensate. Each propeller sits at the end of a 20-meter (65.6 ft) shaft and has four blades, which weigh seven tons and are attached by nine bolts to the hub which is 5.7 meters (18.7 ft) in diameter and weighs 50 tonnes. ''Arktika'' also carries four spare blades along with the appropriate diving equipment and tools so that propeller repairs may be made at sea; the operation can take anywhere from one to four days depending on the extent of the damage. The propellers can deliver a combined
bollard pull Bollard pull is a conventional measure of the pulling (or towing) power of a watercraft. It is defined as the force (usually in tonnes-force or kilonewtons (kN)) exerted by a vessel under full power, on a shore-mounted bollard through a tow-line, ...
of 480 tons with 18-43 MW (25,000 shaft horsepower) otals: 55.3 MW (75,000 shp) This amounts to a maximum speed of on open water, full speed of , and an average speed of while icebreaking thick level ice.


Ships


See also

*
Taymyr (1987 icebreaker) ''Taymyr'' ( rus, Таймыр, p=tɐjˈmɨr) is a shallow-draft nuclear-powered icebreaker, and the first of two similar vessels. She was built in 1989 for the Soviet Union in Finland, at the Hietalahti shipyard, Helsinki Shipyard by Wärtsil ...
* Vaygach (1989 icebreaker)


References


External links


Nuclear Powered Icebreakers
, Bellona Foundation
Technical information
MSCO

Barents Observer

Cool Antarctica {{DEFAULTSORT:Arktika-class icebreaker Soviet inventions Auxiliary icebreaker classes