Nuclear-powered icebreaker

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Nuclear icebreaker Yamal

A nuclear-powered icebreaker is a nuclear-powered ship purpose-built for use in waters covered with ice. Nuclear-powered icebreakers have been constructed by the USSR and later Russia primarily to aid shipping along the Northern Sea Route in the frozen Arctic waterways north of Siberia. Nuclear-powered icebreakers are much more powerful than their diesel-powered counterparts, and although nuclear propulsion is expensive to install and maintain, very heavy fuel demands and limitations on range can make diesel vessels less practical and economical overall for these ice-breaking duties.

During the winter, the ice along the Northern Sea Route varies in thickness from 1.2 to 2.0 metres (3.9 to 6.5 feet). The ice in central parts of the Arctic Ocean is on average 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) thick. Nuclear-powered icebreakers can force through this ice at speeds up to 10 knots (19 km/h, 12 mph). In ice-free waters the maximum speed of the nuclear-powered icebreakers is as much as 21 knots (39 km/h, 24 mph).

In August 2012 Russia's state-owned nuclear corporation, Rosatom, signed a contract to begin construction on what will be the world's largest nuclear icebreaker, a "universal" vessel that could navigate both shallower rivers and the freezing depths of the Arctic.^[1]

Uses of nuclear-powered icebreakers

Arktika, the first surface ship to reach the North Pole

Russian Arktika-class icebreakers are used to force through the ice for the benefit of cargo ships and other vessels along the Northern Sea Route, which comprises the eastern part of the Barents Sea, the Pechora Sea, the Kara Sea, the Laptev Sea, and the Eastern Siberian Sea to the Bering Strait. Other important ports include Dikson, Tiksi, and Pevek. Of six Arktika-class icebreakers built in 1975–2007, four are currently in service.

Two shallow-draft nuclear-powered icebreakers, Vaygach and Taymyr, have been built for shallow waters and are usually used from the Yenisei River to Dikson, where they break through the ice followed by cargo ships with lumber from Igarka and cargo ships with ore and metals from the Norilsk Company's port in Dudinka.

The icebreakers have also been used for a number of scientific expeditions in the Arctic. On August 17, 1977, Arktika was the first surface vessel in the world to reach the North Pole. Since 1989, some icebreakers have been used for Arctic tourist cruises.

Russian nuclear icebreakers

Icebreaker Rossiya, Murmansk, 2012

Sevmorput, a nuclear-powered icebreaking carrier

Vaygach in 1999

The world's largest nuclear icebreaker, 50 let Pobedy

In all, ten civilian nuclear-powered vessels have been built in the USSR and Russia. Nine of these are icebreakers, and one is a container ship with an icebreaking bow. All six nuclear-powered icebreakers of the Arktika class have been built at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg. Vaigach and Taimyr were built at the Helsinki New Shipyard in Finland and then brought to Russia for installation of the reactors and turbogenerators.

Ship Name	In Service	Project Number	Type	Class	Comments
Lenin	1959	92M	Icebreaker	—	Decommissioned 1989. Museum ship.
Arktika	1975	1052-1	Icebreaker	Arktika	Not operational.
Sibir	1977	1052-2	Icebreaker	Arktika	Defueled and not operational since 1993.
Rossiya	1985	10521-1	Icebreaker	Arktika
Sevmorput	1988	10081	Container ship	—	Has ice-breaking bow
Taymyr	1989	10580-1	River icebreaker	Taymyr
Sovetskiy Soyuz	1990	10521-2	Icebreaker	Arktika
Vaygach	1990	10580-2	River icebreaker	Taymyr
Yamal	1993	10521-3	Icebreaker	Arktika
50 Let Pobedy	2007	10521	Icebreaker	Arktika	Built as Ural, completed in 2007.

Lenin

At its launch in 1957 the icebreaker NS Lenin was both the world's first nuclear-powered surface ship and the first nuclear-powered civilian vessel. Lenin was put into ordinary operation in 1959. Lenin had two nuclear accidents, the first in 1965, and the second in 1967. The second accident resulted in one of the three OK-150 reactors being damaged beyond repair. All three reactors were removed, and replaced by two OK-900 reactors; the ship returned to service in 1970. The Lenin was taken out of operation in November 1989 and laid up at Atomflot, the base for nuclear-powered icebreakers, in the Murmansk Fjord. Conversion to a museum ship was scheduled to be completed during 2005.

Arktika class

Arktika class icebreakers are the bulk of the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet; six of Russia's ten nuclear civilian ships are Arktikas. Since they have been built over a period of thirty years, ships of different classes vary among one another; thus specifications are listed as a range of values. In general, the newer ships are larger, faster, and require smaller crews.

Specifications:

Length: 148 m to 159 m (approximately 136 m at the waterline)
Beam: 30 m (28 m at the waterline)
Draft: approximately 11.08 m.
Height (keel to masthead): approximately 55 m
Displacement: 23,000 to 25,000 tons
Maximum speed: 18 to 22 knots
Cruising speed: approximately 18 to 20 knots
Crew: 138 to over 200
Passengers: approximately 100
Reactors: 2 OK-900A, 171 megawatt each
Propulsion: 3 propellers totalling approximately 75,000 hp
Maximum Ice Thickness: 2 to 2.8 m
Endurance: 7.5 months at sea, 4 years between refuelings

Arktika-class icebreakers have a double hull, with the outer hull being approximately 48 mm thick at the ice-breaking areas and 25 mm thick elsewhere. There is water ballast between the inner and outer hulls which can be shifted to aid icebreaking. Icebreaking is also assisted by an air bubbling system which can deliver 24 m³/s of air from jets 9 m below the surface. Some ships have polymer coated hulls to reduce friction. Arktika-class ships can break ice while making way either forwards or backwards. Although they have two reactors, normally only one is used to provide power, with the other being maintained in a standby mode.

Some ships carry one or two helicopters and several Zodiac boats. Radio and satellite systems can include navigation, telephone, fax, and email capabilities.

Most nuclear-powered icebreakers in the Russian service today have a swimming pool, a sauna, a cinema, and a gymnasium.^{[citation needed]} In the restaurants aboard there is a bar and facilities for live music performances. Some also have a library and at least one has a volleyball court.^{[citation needed]}

Individual ships

On 17 August 1977, NS Arktika ("Arctic") became the first surface ship ever to reach the North Pole. Arktika was withdrawn from service in 2008 after clocking up 175,000 hours of reactor operation time and covering more than 1 million nautical miles.^[2] Rather than be scrapped, there are calls for her to be converted to a museum ship, like her predecessor Lenin.^[3]

NS Sibir ("Siberia") ceased operation in 1992 and is awaiting scrapping.^[4]

The NS Rossiya ("Russia") carries two helicopters. Rossiya was used to transport an expedition of around 40 West Germans to the North Pole in the Summer of 1990; this may have been the first non-communist charter of a nuclear icebreaker. Rossiya was in refit as of December 2004.

The NS Sovetskiy Soyuz ("Soviet Union") was trapped in ice for three days in 1998. In 2004 it was one of three icebreakers used for an Arctic ice core expedition intended to research climate change and global warming.

The NS Yamal is mostly used for tourism and scientific expeditions. It has 50 passenger cabins and suites, and carries one helicopter. The crew is 150, including 50 officers and engineers. Yamal was the 12th surface ship ever to reach the North Pole.

The NS 50 Lyet Pobyedi ("50 Years of Victory") is the final Arktika class ship. It was launched from the shipyard at Saint Petersburg on December 29, 1993, as the NS Ural, and delivered to Murmansk in 1994. It was later renamed and not actually completed and commissioned until 2006 due to funding delays. The crew is expected to normally number 138 persons. It has an environmental waste processing module added to the hull which accounts for 9 m of the ship's 159 m length; this makes it the largest of the Arktika class and the largest nuclear-powered icebreaker in the world. It carries two Ka-32 helicopters. It entered service on April 2, 2007.

Taimyr class

Taimyr is also sometimes spelled Taymyr in English, and Vaigach is sometimes spelled Vayguch. The ships were built at the Helsinki New Shipyard in Finland by Wärtsilä. The nuclear reactors were installed at the Leningrad Baltic Shipyard in the Soviet Union after delivery from Finland.^[5]

Taimyr class specifications:

Length: 150.2 m (Taimyr), 151.8 m (Vaiguch)
Beam: 29.2 m
Draft: 8.0 m
Height: 15.2 m keel to main deck, 8 stories from main deck to bridge
Displacement: 20,000 tons
Speed: 18.5 knots
Crew: 120 to 138
Reactors: One KLT-40M reactor producing 135 MW
Propulsion: 3 propellers totalling 52,000 hp

The bow hull plating is approximately 32 mm thick. As of December 2004, both vessels were undergoing refitting.

Future icebreakers

Russia is planning to start building new icebreakers (Project 22220 or ЛК60Я) after 2010. In June 2008 the head of the state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, said "It is important to not only use the existing fleet of icebreakers, but also to build new ships, and the first nuclear icebreaker of a new generation will be built by 2015. This should be an icebreaker capable of moving in rivers and seas", he said. He went on saying that the Iceberg Design Bureau in St. Petersburg would prepare the design of the icebreaker by 2009.^[6] According to the BBC the LK-60 (ЛК60Я) will be the biggest nuclear-powered icebreaker that was ever built.^[7] Vladimir Putin said in 2010, Russia builds at least three nuclear icebreakers of the new generation in the period from 2012 to 2020. Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the state nuclear corporation Rosatom ordered the responsible operator Atomflot to build up to three nuclear icebreakers until 2016. The construction of a nuclear-powered icebreaker takes eight years, the fuel endurance is about 25 years^{[citation needed]} and the reactor can be refueled. According to the Transport Ministry, Russia needs six new icebreakers in the future.^[8]

Infrastructure

Support facilities include the fuel transports Imandra and Lotta which are used for refuelling and spent fuel. The Volodarsky is used for storage of solid waste; it can hold 300 cubic meters. Serebryanka is a tanker used for liquid waste which can hold 1,000 cubic meters of material. The Rosta-1 boat is used for radiation monitoring and control, including sanitization of workers.

A third fuel vessel, Lepse, is filled with spent nuclear fuel elements, many of them damaged and thus difficult to handle. The vessel was used for dumping of nuclear waste in the Barents and Kara Seas from 1963 to 1984.^[9] During a dumping operation in 1984, Lepse encountered very rough seas, and high-level reactor waste mixed with water was splashed all over the inside of the cargo compartment. The contamination was so severe that the crew were forced to immediately return to port at the Atomflot harbor with most of the nuclear waste still in the hold. The ship was immediately recognized as being far too dangerous to decontaminate and return to service, and has been essentially abandoned with a cargo hold full of leaking spent reactor fuel vessels, in the harbor for over 15 years. It forms one of the world's most difficult and potentially dangerous nuclear waste disposal problems; an accident there could release more radiation than the Chernobyl catastrophe into the immediate vicinity of Murmansk.^{[citation needed]} A small crew monitors the ship on a constant basis while Russia tries to raise the money and perform the research needed for safe disposal. In September 2012 the Lepse was removed from the Atomflot harbor and transported to the Nerpa shipyard where it will be carefully scrapped.^[10]

In all, about 2,000 people work aboard the icebreakers, the nuclear-powered container ship, and aboard the service and storage ships stationed at the Atomflot harbour. The crew on the civil nuclear-powered vessels receive special training at the Makarov college in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Icebreakers generally try to navigate paths with the least possible ice in order to make speedier progress and to help ensure that they do not become trapped in ice too thick for them to break. In the 1970s and 1980s, land-based aircraft would observe and map the ice to help with course plotting. Over time, most of this work has been taken over by satellite surveillance systems, sometimes aided by the helicopters carried by the icebreakers.

Arctic tourism

Yamal, August 2001

Since 1989 the nuclear-powered icebreakers have also been used for tourist purposes carrying passengers to the North Pole. Each participant pays up to US$ 25,000 for a cruise lasting three weeks. The NS Sibir was used for the first two tourist cruises in 1989 and 1990. In 1991 and 1992, the tourist trips to the North Pole were undertaken by NS Sovyetski Soyuz. During the summer of 1993 the NS Yamal was used for three tourist expeditions in the Arctic. The NS Yamal has a separate accommodation section for tourists. The nuclear-powered icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy (known in English as the 50 Years of Victory) contains an accommodation deck customised for tourists.

Quark Expeditions chartered the 50 Years of Victory for expeditions to the North Pole in 2008. The vessel's maiden voyage to the North Pole embarked in Murmansk, on June 24, 2008. The ship carried 128 guests in 64 cabins in five categories. 50 Years of Victory completed a total of three expeditions to the North Pole in 2008 for the polar adventure company. As of February 2013, Quark Expeditions was listing the 50 Years of Victory in the company fleet^[11] and offering it for a North Pole cruise.^[12]

References

↑ Conant, Eve, Breaking the Ice, Scientific American and Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
↑ Arktika rests after 33 years of icebreaking, World Nuclear News, 07 October 2008
↑ “Arktika” could become museum, Barents Observer, August 17, 2012
↑ Russia scraps three nuclear icebreakers, Barents Observer, January 26, 2012
↑ Nuclear icebreakers at Bellona.org
↑ RIA Novosti - Russia - New Russian nuclear icebreaker 'will be built by 2015'
↑ Russia to build biggest nuclear-powered icebreaker
↑ Stimme Russlands german translation into english - Nuclear icebreaker construction: Russia has no competition
↑ Filippov, Sergey, The Nuclear Waste Ship History, Bellona, retrieved 05/02/2007
↑ "Lepse nuclear waste storage ship endangering Murmansk for decades finally headed for dismantlement". Bellona. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
↑ "50 Years of Victory - the largest nuclear-powered icebreaker in the world". Quark Expeditions. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
↑ "North Pole Cruise: The Ultimate Arctic Adventure, 2013". Quark Expeditions. Retrieved 2013-07-26.

External links

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Polar exploration

Arctic

Ocean History Expeditions

Farthest North North Pole	Barentsz Hudson Marmaduke Carolus Parry North Magnetic Pole J. Ross J. C. Ross Kane Hayes Polaris Polaris C. F. Hall British Arctic Expedition HMS Alert Nares HMS Discovery Stephenson Markham Lady Franklin Bay Expedition Greely Lockwood Brainard 1st Fram expedition Fram Nansen Johansen Sverdrup Jason Amedeo F. Cook Peary Sedov Byrd Airship Norge Amundsen Nobile Wisting Riiser-Larsen Ellsworth Airship Italia Nautilus Wilkins ANT-25 Chkalov Baydukov Belyakov "North Pole" manned drifting ice stations NP-1 Papanin Shirshov E. Fyodorov Krenkel NP-36 NP-37 Sedov Badygin Wiese USS Nautilus USS Skate Plaisted Herbert NS Arktika Barneo Arktika 2007 MIR submersibles Sagalevich Chilingarov

Iceland Greenland	Pytheas Brendan Papar Vikings Naddodd Svavarsson Arnarson Norse colonization of the Americas Ulfsson Galti Erik the Red Christian IV's expeditions J. Hall Cunningham Lindenov C. Richardson Danish colonization Egede Scoresby Jason Nansen Sverdrup Peary Rasmussen

Northwest Passage Northern Canada	Cabot G. Corte-Real M. Corte-Real Frobisher Gilbert Davis Hudson Discovery Bylot Baffin Munk I. Fyodorov Gvozdev HMS Resolution J. Cook HMS Discovery Clerke Mackenzie Kotzebue J. Ross HMS Griper Parry HMS Hecla Lyon HMS Fury Hoppner Crozier J. C. Ross Coppermine Expedition Franklin Back Dease Simpson HMS Blossom Beechey Franklin's lost expedition HMS Erebus HMS Terror Collinson Rae–Richardson Expedition Rae J. Richardson Austin McClure Expedition HMS Investigator McClure HMS Resolute Kellett Belcher Kennedy Bellot Isabel Inglefield 2nd Grinnell Expedition USS Advance Kane Fox McClintock HMS Pandora Young Fram Sverdrup Gjøa Amundsen Rasmussen Karluk Stefansson Bartlett St. Roch H. Larsen Cowper

North East Passage Russian Arctic	Pomors Koch boats Willoughby Chancellor Barentsz Mangazeya Hudson Poole Siberian Cossacks Perfilyev Stadukhin Dezhnev Popov Ivanov Vagin Permyakov Great Northern Expedition Bering Chirikov Malygin Ovtsyn Minin V. Pronchishchev M. Pronchishcheva Chelyuskin Kh. Laptev D. Laptev Chichagov Lyakhov Billings Sannikov Gedenschtrom Wrangel Matyushkin Anjou Litke Lavrov Pakhtusov Tsivolko Middendorff Austro-Hungarian Expedition Weyprecht Payer Vega Expedition A. E. Nordenskiöld Palander USS Jeannette DeLong Yermak Makarov Zarya Toll Kolomeitsev Matisen Kolchak Sedov Rusanov Kuchin Brusilov Expedition Sv. Anna Brusilov Albanov Konrad Wiese Nagórski Taymyr / Vaygach Vilkitsky Maud Amundsen AARI Samoylovich Begichev Urvantsev Sadko Ushakov Glavsevmorput Schmidt Aviaarktika Shevelev Sibiryakov Voronin Chelyuskin Krasin Gakkel Nuclear-powered icebreakers NS Lenin Arktika class

Antarctic

Continent History Expeditions

Southern Ocean	Roché Bouvet Kerguelen HMS Resolution J. Cook HMS Adventure Furneaux Smith San Telmo Vostok Bellingshausen Mirny Lazarev Bransfield Palmer Davis Weddell Morrell Astrolabe Dumont d'Urville United States Exploring Expedition USS Vincennes Wilkes USS Porpoise Ringgold HMS Erebus J. C. Ross HMS Terror Crozier Cooper Challenger expedition HMS Challenger Nares Murray Jason C. A. Larsen

"Heroic Age"	Belgian Antarctic Expedition Belgica de Gerlache Lecointe Amundsen Cook Arctowski Racoviță Dobrowolski Southern Cross Southern Cross Borchgrevink Discovery Discovery Discovery Hut Gauss Gauss Drygalski Swedish Antarctic Expedition Antarctic O. Nordenskjöld C. A. Larsen Scottish Antarctic Expedition Bruce Orcadas Base Nimrod Expedition Nimrod French Antarctic Expeditions Pourquoi-Pas Charcot Japanese Antarctic Expedition Shirase Amundsen's South Pole expedition Fram Amundsen Framheim Polheim Terra Nova Terra Nova Scott Wilson E. R. Evans Crean Lashly Filchner Australasian Antarctic Expedition SY Aurora Mawson Far Eastern Party Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition Endurance Ernest Shackleton Wild *James Caird* Ross Sea party Mackintosh Shackleton–Rowett Expedition Quest

IPY · IGY Modern research	Christensen Byrd BANZARE BGLE Rymill New Swabia Ritscher Operation Tabarin Marr Operation Highjump Captain Arturo Prat Base British Antarctic Survey Operation Windmill Ketchum Ronne Expedition F. Ronne E. Ronne Schlossbach Operation Deep Freeze McMurdo Station Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition Hillary V. Fuchs Soviet Antarctic Expeditions 1st Somov Klenova Mirny 2nd Tryoshnikov 3rd Tolstikov Antarctic Treaty System Transglobe Expedition Fiennes Burton Lake Vostok Kapitsa

Farthest South South Pole	HMS Resolution J. Cook HMS Adventure Furneaux Weddell HMS Erebus J. C. Ross HMS Terror Crozier Southern Cross Borchgrevink Discovery Barne Nimrod Shackleton Wild Marshall Adams South Magnetic Pole Mawson David Mackay Amundsen's South Pole expedition Fram Amundsen Bjaaland Helmer Hassel Wisting Polheim Terra Nova Scott E. Evans Oates Wilson Bowers Byrd Balchen McKinley Dufek Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station Hillary V. Fuchs Pole of Cold Vostok Station Pole of inaccessibility Pole of Inaccessibility Station Tolstikov Crary A. Fuchs Messner

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