ROASTOM Launches The World’s Largest Nuclear Powered Ice Breaker ‘URAL’
ROASTOM Launches The World’s Largest Nuclear Powered Ice Breaker ‘URAL’
Russia’s nuclear energy giant, ROSATOM, launches the nuclear-powered arctic ice breaker ‘Ural’. ROASTOM has completed another step towards ensuring all-year round navigability of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). ‘Ural’ is 173 meter long and is equipped with two highly efficient and compact RITM-200 nuclear reactors on board, capable of generating up to 350MW combined, allowing the ship to break through ice as thick as 3 meters. The cutting edge RITM-200 type reactor makes its world debut on the ‘Ural’ as well as on its sister vessels from the 22220 project, the ‘Arktik’ and the ‘Sibir’, before ROSATOM deploys it in floating and landlocked nuclear power plants.
Another unique feature of the project 22220 vessels includes the dual-draught design of ‘Ural’. Ballast tanks inside its hull can be adjusted easily to alter the ship’s draught depending on whether the vessel needs to navigate the Arctic sea or shallow river estuaries. With this smart design solution, ROSATOM is essentially getting two types of ice breakers for the price of one, representing a potential cost saving of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Reference: rosatom.ru
