From Bellona, April 17:
Russia’s new Arktika nuclear icebreaker delayed for at least a year
A defective electric engine aboard Russia’s newest nuclear icebreaker has set off a cascade of difficulties that will postpone its scheduled May delivery date by at least several months, frustrating Moscow’s drive to tame Arctic sea routes as part of a broad economic plan.
A defective electric engine aboard Russia’s newest nuclear icebreaker has set off a cascade of difficulties that will postpone its scheduled May delivery date by at least several months, frustrating Moscow’s drive to tame Arctic sea routes as part of a broad economic plan.....MUCH MORE
The problems aboard the Arktika icebreaker, slated to be the largest in the world, came to light in February, when a 300-ton electric propulsion motor on the vessel’s starboard side – which has nothing to do with the nuclear propulsion system – failed during sea trials.
By this month, it has become clear to officials that there are no easy fixes are in sight, and that the delayed delivery of the enormous vessel from a St Petersburg shipyard to its stationing in Murmansk means a number of older nuclear powered will be forced to continue operations.
“I don’t think we know all the details of this incident,” Andrei Zolotkov, a former nuclear icebreaker technician and the head of Bellona’s Murmansk offices, said. “The constant failure to meet the deadline to put new nuclear icebreakers into operation is already damaging to the builders’ reputations. The failure of the [electric motor] is another big minus.”
The Artkika is the lead vessel of Russia’s LK60Ya nuclear icebreaker line, which Moscow sees as a central tool for developing the frozen Northern Sea Route, the Arctic shipping artery on which President Vladimir Putin has staked much of Russia’s economic future.
Like its sister vessels – the Ural and the Sibir – the Arktika has a displacement of 33,500 tons, and measures 173 meters from bow to stern. The price tag of each new ship is about $550 million....
And the next generation, via RT, April 23:
TWICE as powerful: Russia to build new monster nuclear icebreaker for Arctic sea route
Oddly, despite being six days later than the Bellona story, the Russian mouthpiece doesn't mention Artkika's travails.The world's most powerful nuclear icebreaker is set to be built in Russia – again. The new vessel, to be delivered in the late 2020s, will dwarf the power of existing icebreakers, with its new 120-Megawatt powerplant.Dubbed 'Leader,' the new Project 10510 icebreaker got the green light on Thursday, when Russia's Far East Zvezda shipyard and the Rosatomflot company signed the contract for its construction. Due to the coronavirus restrictions in place, the contract was signed via video link.
The 'Leader,' conceived back in 2016, dwarfs any existing nuclear-powered icebreaker, including Russia's –and the world's– most powerful Project 22220 icebreakers, currently under construction. The maiden vessel of that project, Arktika, is currently undergoing trials and is expected to join the fleet later this year, while two other ships of this type are set to be launched in the next two years.
While the Arktika is capable of breaking three-meter-thick ice, the new Leader icebreakers will be able to cut through a 4.3 meter-thick ice sheet, as well as to stay at sea for eight months without entering a port. The new icebreakers will pack twice as much punch, boasting a 120-MWatt powerplant, compared to the 60-MWatt output of the Arktika.....MORE
