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First Project 22220 Nuclear Icebreaker Arktika for Russian Navy to be Commissioned in May 2019

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Naval Forces News - Russia
 
 
 
First Project 22220 Nuclear Icebreaker Arktika for Russian Navy to be Commissioned in May 2019
 
The Arctika lead icebreaker of project 22220 may be brought into use in May 2019, the Director General of the federal state unitary enterprise (FSUE) Atomflot Vyacheslav Ruksha at a meeting of the Arctic Council state members.
     
nuclear icebreaker project 22220 rosatom russiaArtist impression of nuclear powered icebreaker "Arktika" (project 22220)
Image: Atomflot
     
"In accordance with the governmental regulation, we will accept into use the 'Arktika' lead icebreaker in a renewed timeframe - in May 2019, the second icebreaker - in November 2020 and the third one - in November 2021," the head of FSUE Atomflot said.

"The technical project of the Lider icebreaker will have been finished by the year-end,"
he added. According to Ruksha, the icebreaker will be able to reach a speed of 12-14 knots in ice waters. "There is a pivotal government-level issue - if we have a firm intention to make our way on the liquid gas market , the building of two or three more Lider icebreakers will be required in 2029-2030," he said.

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Navy Recognition Comments

The three icebreakers were originally planned to be delivered to the customer in 2017, 2019 and 2020, respectively. The three icebreakers are currently under construction at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg on order of Rosatomflot Company, part of Russia’s Rosatom Corporation. The Project 22220 lead icebreaker Arktika was laid down at the Baltic Shipyard in November 2013. The project is estimated at 122 billion rubles ($1.9 billion).

The icebreaker incorporates technologies that were not used in the nuclear-powered fleet earlier. In particular, the ship’s double draught with a controlled submersion depth will allow it to lead a group of vessels in ice-covered areas and river outlets and its new nuclear reactor will make it possible to navigate for more than six months without calling at ports for recharging.

The icebreaker is planned to be able to navigate about seven years without recharging. The icebreaker will receive two water desalination systems able to process 70 tons of water each. As of today, the Baltic Shipyard has more than 10,000 tons of assembled metal structures for the future icebreaker in its slipway.

Project 22220 Nuclear-powered Icebreakers are set to become the largest and most powerful icebreakers in the world. Their length is 173.3 meters with a width of 34 meters and draft of 10.5 meters. Projected tonnage is 33,540 tons. It will be fitted with two RITM-200 pressurized water reactors for a capacity of 175 MW.