Russian nuclear icebreakers. The largest and most powerful icebreaker in the world. Fleet of nuclear ships

Nuclear-powered icebreakers can stay on the Northern Sea Route for a long time without needing refueling. Currently, the operating fleet includes the nuclear-powered ships Rossiya, Sovetsky Soyuz, Yamal, 50 Years of Victory, Taimyr and Vaigach, as well as the nuclear-powered lighter-container carrier Sevmorput. They are operated and maintained by Rosatomflot, located in Murmansk.

1. Nuclear-powered icebreaker - a seagoing vessel with a nuclear power plant, built specifically for use in waters covered with ice all year round. Nuclear icebreakers are much more powerful than diesel ones. In the USSR, they were developed to ensure navigation in the cold waters of the Arctic.

2. For the period 1959–1991 in the Soviet Union, 8 nuclear-powered icebreakers and 1 nuclear-powered lighter carrier - container ship were built.
In Russia, from 1991 to the present, two more nuclear-powered icebreakers have been built: Yamal (1993) and 50 Years of Victory (2007). Three more nuclear-powered icebreakers with a displacement of more than 33,000 tons are under construction, and the icebreaking capacity is almost three meters. The first one will be ready by 2017.

3. In total, on Russian nuclear icebreakers, as well as ships located at the base nuclear fleet Atomflot employs more than 1,100 people.

Sovetsky Soyuz (nuclear icebreaker of the Arktika class)

4. Icebreakers of the Arktika class are the basis of the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet: 6 out of 10 nuclear icebreakers belong to this class. Vessels have double hulls, can break ice, moving both forward and backward. These ships are designed to operate in cold Arctic waters, which makes it difficult to operate a nuclear facility in warm seas. This is partly why crossing the tropics to work off the coast of Antarctica is not among their tasks.

The displacement of the icebreaker is 21,120 tons, the draft is 11.0 m, the maximum speed in clear water is 20.8 knots.

5. The design feature of the icebreaker "Soviet Union" is that at any time it can be retrofitted into a battle cruiser. Initially, the ship was used for Arctic tourism. Making a transpolar cruise, it was possible to install meteorological ice stations operating in automatic mode, as well as an American meteorological buoy.

6. Branch of GTG (main turbogenerators). A nuclear reactor heats water, which turns into steam, which spins turbines that energize generators that generate electricity, which goes to electric motors that turn propellers.

7. CPU (Central control post).

8. Icebreaker control is concentrated in two main command posts: the wheelhouse and the central power plant control post (CPU). From the wheelhouse, the general management of the operation of the icebreaker is carried out, and from the central control room - operation control power plant, mechanisms and systems and control over their work.

9. The reliability of nuclear powered ships of the Arktika class has been tested and proven by time - for more than 30 years of nuclear powered ships of this class there has not been a single accident associated with a nuclear power plant.

10. Cabin for feeding officers. The dining room for the ratings is located on the deck below. The diet consists of a full four meals a day.

11. "Soviet Union" was put into operation in 1989, with an established service life of 25 years. In 2008, the Baltic Shipyard supplied equipment for the icebreaker, which makes it possible to extend the life of the vessel. Currently, the icebreaker is planned to be restored, but only after a specific customer is identified or until transit along the Northern Sea Route is increased and new areas of work appear.

Nuclear icebreaker "Arktika"

12. Launched in 1975 and was considered the largest of all existing at that time: its width was 30 meters, length - 148 meters, and side height - more than 17 meters. All conditions were created on the ship, allowing the flight crew and the helicopter to be based. "Arktika" was able to break through the ice, the thickness of which was five meters, and also move at a speed of 18 knots. The unusual color of the vessel (bright red) was also considered a clear difference, which personified a new nautical era.

13. The nuclear icebreaker Arktika became famous for being the first ship to reach the North Pole. Currently decommissioned and pending decision on its disposal.

"Vaigach"

14. Shallow-draft nuclear icebreaker of the Taimyr project. Distinctive feature this project icebreakers - reduced draft, which allows serving ships following the Northern Sea Route with entry into the mouths of Siberian rivers.

15. Captain's bridge. remotes remote control three propeller electric motors, also located on the control panel are control devices for the towing device, a control panel for the surveillance camera for the tug, log indicators, echo sounders, a gyrocompass repeater, VHF radio stations, a control panel for wiper blades and other joystick controls for a 6 kW xenon spotlight.

16. Machine telegraphs.

17. The main use of Vaigach is to escort ships with metal from Norilsk and ships with timber and ore from Igarka to Dixon.

18. The main power plant of the icebreaker consists of two turbogenerators, which will provide a maximum continuous power of about 50,000 liters on the shafts. with., which will force the ice up to two meters thick. With an ice thickness of 1.77 meters, the speed of the icebreaker is 2 knots.

19. The room of the middle propeller shaft.

20. The direction of movement of the icebreaker is controlled by an electro-hydraulic steering machine.

21. Former cinema hall. Now on the icebreaker in each cabin there is a TV with wiring for broadcasting the ship's video channel and satellite TV. And the cinema hall is used for ship-wide meetings and cultural events.

22. Study of the block cabin of the second chief mate. The duration of the stay of nuclear-powered ships at sea depends on the number of planned works, on average it is 2-3 months. The crew of the icebreaker "Vaigach" consists of 100 people.

Nuclear icebreaker "Taimyr"

24. The icebreaker is identical to the Vaigach. It was built in the late 1980s in Finland at the Wärtsilä shipyard (Wärtsilä Marine Engineering) in Helsinki by order Soviet Union. However, the equipment (power plant, etc.) on the ship was installed in the Soviet Union, Soviet-made steel was used. The installation of nuclear equipment was carried out in Leningrad, where the icebreaker's hull was towed in 1988.

25. "Taimyr" in the dock of the shipyard.

26. "Taimyr" breaks the ice in a classic way: a powerful hull leans on an obstacle from frozen water, destroying it with its own weight. Behind the icebreaker, a channel is formed through which ordinary sea vessels can move.

27. To improve the ice-breaking ability, the Taimyr is equipped with a pneumatic washing system that prevents the hull from sticking to broken ice and snow. If the laying of the channel is hampered by thick ice, trim and roll systems, which consist of tanks and pumps, come into play. Thanks to these systems, the icebreaker can roll on one side, then on the other, raise the bow or stern higher. From such hull movements, the ice field surrounding the icebreaker is crushed, allowing you to move on.

28. For painting external structures, decks and bulkheads, imported two-component acrylic-based enamels of increased weather resistance, abrasion and impact resistance are used. The paint is applied in three layers: one layer of primer and two layers of enamel.

29. The speed of such an icebreaker is 18.5 knots (33.3 km / h).

30. Repair of the propeller-steering complex.

31. Installation of the blade.

32. Bolts securing the blade to the propeller hub, each of the four blades is attached with nine bolts.

33. Almost all vessels of the Russian icebreaker fleet are equipped with propellers manufactured at the Zvyozdochka plant.

Nuclear icebreaker "Lenin"

34. This icebreaker, launched on December 5, 1957, was the first ship in the world to be equipped with a nuclear power plant. Its most important differences were a high level of autonomy and power. During the first six years of operation, the nuclear-powered icebreaker covered more than 82,000 nautical miles, navigating over 400 ships. Later, "Lenin" will be the first of all ships to be north of Severnaya Zemlya.

35. The icebreaker "Lenin" worked for 31 years and in 1990 was decommissioned and put into eternal parking in Murmansk. Now there is a museum on the icebreaker, work is underway to expand the exposition.

36. The compartment in which there were two nuclear installations. Two dosimetrists went inside, measuring the level of radiation and controlling the operation of the reactor.

There is an opinion that it was thanks to "Lenin" that the expression "peaceful atom" was fixed. The icebreaker was being built in the midst of cold war”, but had absolutely peaceful goals - the development of the Northern Sea Route and the escort of civilian ships.

37. Wheelhouse.

38. Front staircase.

39. One of the captains of the AL "Lenin", Pavel Akimovich Ponomarev, was previously the captain of the "Ermak" (1928-1932) - the world's first icebreaker of the Arctic class.

As a bonus, a couple of photos of Murmansk ...

40. Murmansk is the world's largest city located beyond the Arctic Circle. It is located on the rocky eastern coast of the Kola Bay of the Barents Sea.

41. The basis of the city's economy is the Murmansk Seaport - one of the largest ice-free ports in Russia. The port of Murmansk is the home port of the Sedov barque, the largest sailing ship in the world.

Andrey Akatov
Yuri Koryakovsky
FSBEI HPE "St. Petersburg State Technological Institute (Technical University)", Department of Engineering Radioecology and Radiochemical Technology

annotation

The development of the Northern Sea Route is unthinkable without the development of a nuclear icebreaker fleet. The championship in the creation of a surface vessel with a nuclear engine also belongs to our country. The article presents interesting facts related to the creation and operation of nuclear-powered ships, their design and principles of operation. The new requirements for the icebreaker fleet in modern conditions and the prospects for its development are considered. The description of new projects of nuclear icebreakers and floating power units is given.

The Arctic is conquered only by people with a strong will who are able, regardless of the circumstances, to go towards the intended goal. Their ships should be the same: powerful, autonomous, capable of long exhausting transitions in difficult ice conditions. We will talk about such ships, which are the pride of Russia - about nuclear icebreakers.

Nuclear-powered icebreakers provide escort for tankers and other vessels along the Northern Sea Route, evacuate polar stations from drifting ice floes that have become unsuitable for work and life-threatening polar explorers, as well as rescue ships stuck in the ice and conduct scientific research.

Nuclear-powered icebreakers differ from conventional (diesel-electric) icebreakers, which cannot stay at sea for a long time without calling at ports. Their fuel supply is up to a third of the mass of the vessel, but it is only enough for about a month. There were cases when caravans of ships got stuck in the ice just because the icebreakers ran out of fuel ahead of time.

A nuclear-powered icebreaker is much more powerful and has greater autonomy, i.e., it is able to perform ice tasks for a longer time without entering ports. This multifunctional vessel is an engineering marvel that Russians have a right to be proud of. Moreover, the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet is the only one in the world, and no one else has such ships. Yes, and the championship in the creation of a surface vessel with a nuclear engine also belongs to our country. It happened in the 50s. the last century.

Ice "Lenin"

The successes of scientists and engineers in mastering atomic energy led to the idea of ​​using an atomic reactor as a ship engine. New ship installations promised unprecedented advantages in terms of power and autonomy of ships, but the path to obtaining the cherished specifications was thorny. No one else in the world has developed such projects. It was necessary to create not just a nuclear reactor, but a powerful, compact and at the same time fairly light nuclear power plant, which would be conveniently placed in the case.

The developers also remembered that their brainchild would experience pitching, shock loads and vibrations. We did not forget about the safety of personnel: radiation protection on a ship is much more difficult than at a nuclear power plant, because bulky and heavy protective equipment cannot be used here.

The first designed nuclear-powered icebreaker had high power and was twice as powerful as the world's largest American icebreaker, the Glacier, which placed special demands on the strength of the hull, the shape of the fore and aft ends, and the survivability of the ship. The designers, engineers and builders faced a fundamentally new technical challenge, and they solved it in the shortest possible time!

While the country was launching the world's first nuclear power plant (1954), launching the first Soviet nuclear submarine (1957), the world's first nuclear surface vessel was being created and built in Leningrad. In 1953–1956 The team of TsKB-15 (now "Iceberg") under the leadership of the chief designer V. I. Neganov developed a project, the implementation of which began in 1956 at the Leningrad Shipbuilding Plant. Andre Marty. The design of the nuclear plant was carried out under the guidance of I. I. Afrikantov, and the hull steel was specially developed at the Prometheus Institute. Leningrad plants supplied the icebreaker with turbines (Kirov Plant) and propeller motors (Elektrosila). Not a single foreign detail! 75 km of pipelines of different diameters. The length of the welds is like the distance from Murmansk to Vladivostok! The most difficult technical problem was solved in the shortest possible time.

The launching took place on December 5, 1957, and on September 12, 1959, the Lenin nuclear icebreaker under the command of P. A. Ponomarev from the shipyard of the Admiralty Plant (renamed A. Marty Shipbuilding Plant) went for sea trials. He became the world's first surface nuclear ship, since the first foreign-made nuclear-powered ship (the nuclear-powered missile cruiser Long Beach, USA) was put into operation much later - on September 9, 1961 - and the first merchant ship with a nuclear power plant Savannah (also American) set sail only August 22, 1962 The journey from Leningrad to Murmansk was memorable.

Icebreaker Arktika

While the ship was sailing around Scandinavia, it was accompanied by NATO planes and ships. The boats took water samples from the side to make sure the radiation safety of the icebreaker. All their fears turned out to be in vain - after all, even in the cabins adjacent to the reactor compartment, the radiation background was normal.

The operation of the nuclear icebreaker "Lenin" made it possible to increase the period of navigation. During its operation, the nuclear-powered ship traveled 1.2 million km and navigated 3,741 ships through the ice. A lot can be said about the first nuclear-powered ship interesting facts. For example, he consumed only 45 g of nuclear fuel (less than a matchbox) per day.


Icebreaker Siberia

It could be converted into an arctic war cruiser. Among other things, the icebreaker served as a camouflage for Soviet nuclear submarines: the ship was heading along a predetermined course, leading nuclear submarines that were sliding in the depths under its hull to a predetermined high-latitude region.

Having worked with dignity for 30 years, in 1989 the nuclear icebreaker "Lenin" was decommissioned and is now at the place of eternal parking in Murmansk. A museum has been created on board the nuclear-powered ship, and there is an information center for the nuclear industry. But even today, the date of December 3 (the day the national flag is hoisted on the world's first nuclear-powered icebreaker) is celebrated as the birthday of the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet.

From the Arctic to the present day

The nuclear icebreaker Arktika (1975) is the first ship in the world to reach the North Pole in surface navigation. Prior to this historic voyage, not a single icebreaker dared to go to the Pole. The top of the world was conquered on foot, by plane, by submarine. But not on an icebreaker.
The experimental scientific-practical cruise left Murmansk in an arc through the Barents and Kara Seas to the Laptev Sea and then turned north to the pole, encountering multi-year ice several meters thick on its way. On August 17, 1977, having overcome the thick ice cover of the Central Polar Basin, the nuclear-powered ship reached the North Pole, thus opening a new era in the study of the Arctic. And on May 25, 1987, another Arktika-class nuclear-powered ship, Siberia (1977), visited “above the planet”. To date, both vessels have been decommissioned.

Currently, the nuclear icebreaker fleet operates four vessels.

Two icebreakers of the Taimyr class - Taimyr (1989) and Vaigach (1990) - are shallow-draft, which allows them to enter the mouths of large rivers and break ice up to 1.8 m thick. - due to their large draft, they are not able to enter shallow northern bays and rivers, as well as diesel-electric icebreakers (the latter due to low power and dependence on fuel supply). The problem was solved within the framework of a joint Soviet-Finnish project: specialists from the USSR designed a nuclear power plant, and the Finns designed the icebreaker as a whole.


Icebreaker Taimyr

The other two of the nuclear-powered icebreakers remaining in service are of the Arktika class; they are capable of breaking ice up to 2.8 m at a steady speed:

  • "Yamal" (1993) - a smiling shark's mouth is painted on the nose of the nuclear-powered ship, which appeared in 1994, when, as part of one of the humanitarian programs, it took children from different countries peace to the North Pole; since then, the shark mouth has become his brand;
  • "50 Years of Victory" (2007) - the world's largest icebreaker; the ship has an environmental compartment equipped with the latest equipment for the collection and disposal of all waste products of the ship.

As already mentioned, nuclear-powered icebreakers are capable of staying at sea for a long time without entering ports. The same Arktika clearly demonstrated this advantage, having worked without a single breakdown and without calling at the home port (Murmansk) for exactly a year - from May 4, 1999 to May 4, 2000. The reliability of nuclear-powered ships was also proven by Arktika: August 24, 2005 The ship has traveled a millionth mile, which was not previously possible for any ship of this class. Is it a lot or a little? A million nautical miles on a scale known to us is 46 revolutions around the equator or 5 trips to the moon. What a 30-year-old Arctic odyssey!

In addition to escorting Arctic caravans in the northern seas, since 1990, nuclear-powered icebreakers (Soviet Union, Yamal, 50 Years of Victory) have also been used to organize tourist trips to the North Pole. The cruise departs from Murmansk and, bypassing the islands of Franz Josef Land, the New Siberian Islands, the North Pole, returns to the mainland. From the board, tourists land on the islands and ice floes by helicopter; All Arktika-class icebreakers are equipped with two helipads. The ships themselves are painted red, which is clearly visible from the air.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the Northern Sea Route. This unique transport vessel (lighter carrier) with a nuclear power plant and an icebreaking prow is also assigned to the port of Murmansk. It is called a lighter carrier because the Sevmorput can carry the so-called lighters - non-self-propelled sea vessels designed to transport goods and ensure their processing. If there are no berths on the shore or the harbor is not deep enough, then the lighters are unloaded from the ship and towed to the shore, which is very convenient, especially in the conditions of the northern coast. With the help of special grips, the lifting device rigidly fixes the lighters and quickly lowers them into the water through the stern of the vessel. Containers can also be unloaded on the move, which was used in special cases.


Icebreakers "Sevmorput" and "Soviet Union" at the berth of FSUE "Atomflot" in Murmansk

It should be noted that until recently, the future of the one-of-a-kind nuclear lighter carrier was presented in a very black color: for many years the vessel stood idle, and in August 2012 the Sevmorput was generally excluded from the register of ships and was waiting for the start of work on decommissioning operation. However, in 2013, they decided that a ship of this class would still be useful to the fleet: an order was signed to restore the nuclear-powered ship. The resource of the nuclear installation will be extended, the return of the ship to service is expected in the coming years.

So, we met with representatives of the family of nuclear icebreakers. Now it's time to understand their device.

How does a nuclear icebreaker work and work?

In principle, all nuclear icebreakers are built almost the same, so let's take as an example the latest of Russia's nuclear icebreakers - "50 Years of Victory". The very first thing that can be said about him is the largest icebreaker in the world.

Inside the nuclear icebreaker there are two nuclear reactors enclosed in strong cases. Why just two? Of course, to ensure its continuous operation, because the nuclear-powered ship faces the most difficult tests, which sometimes its diesel counterparts are unable to cope with. Even if one of the reactors exhausts its resource or stops for another reason, the ship can go on the other. During normal navigation, the reactors work together. Provided and reserve diesel engines(in the most extreme case).

During the operation of a nuclear reactor, a chain reaction of fission of uranium nuclei (or rather, its isotope uranium-235) takes place in it. As a result, the nuclear fuel heats up. This heat is transferred to the primary water through the fuel element cladding, which acts as a protective coating. The containment is necessary so that the radionuclides contained in the fuel do not get into the coolant.

The water of the primary circuit is heated above 300 °C, but does not boil, because it is under high pressure. Then it enters the steam generators (each reactor has four of them), pierced by tubes, through which the water of the second circuit circulates, turning into steam. The steam is sent to the turbine plant (two turbines are installed on the ship), and the slightly cooled coolant of the primary circuit is again pumped into the reactor by circulation pumps. To prevent rupture of pipelines during pressure surges, a special module is provided in the primary circuit, which is called a pressure compensator. The reactor itself is located in a casing filled with clean water (third circuit). There is no leakage of radioactive water from the primary circuit - it circulates in a closed circuit.

The steam generated from the water of the secondary circuit rotates the turbine shaft. The latter, in turn, turns the rotor of the generator, which generates electric current. The current is supplied to three powerful electric motors that rotate three propellers of reinforced strength (propeller weight - 50 tons). Electric motors provide a very fast change in the direction of rotation of the propellers and speed when the reactor is operating at a constant power. Indeed, an icebreaker sometimes has to change direction abruptly (for example, sometimes it cuts ice, moving back, accelerating and hitting an ice floe). The reactor is not adapted for such work (its task is to produce electricity), and the electric motor can easily be switched to reverse.

The steam of the second circuit, having worked out on the turbine, enters the condenser. There it is cooled by sea water (fourth circuit) and condenses, that is, it turns back into water. This water is pumped through a desalination plant to remove corrosive salts, and then through a deaerator in which corrosive gases (carbon dioxide and oxygen) are removed from the water. Then, from the deaerator tank, the feed water of the second circuit is pumped into the steam generator by a pump - the cycle is closed.

Separately, it must be said about the design of the reactor, which is called "water-water", since the water in it performs two functions - a neutron moderator and a coolant. Such a design has proven itself well on nuclear submarines and was later brought to land: land-based VVER-type reactors, which are already operating and will be installed at new Russian nuclear power units, are the heirs of the boat ones. Icebreaking nuclear power plants also received excellent certification: not a single accident with the release of radioactive substances into the environment in the entire fifty-year history.

The reactor does not pose any harm to the crew and the environment, since its robust hull is surrounded by a biological shield of concrete, steel and water. In any emergency, with a complete power outage and even with an overkill (turning the vessel upside down), the reactor will be shut down - this is how the active protection system is designed.

The main work of the icebreaker is the destruction of the ice cover. For these purposes, the icebreaker was given a special barrel-shaped shape, and the bow has relatively sharp (wedge-shaped) formations and a slope (cut) in the underwater part at an angle to the waterline. The icebreaker 50 Years of Pobedy has a spoon-shaped bow (this is what distinguishes it from its predecessors), which makes it possible to break the ice more efficiently. The aft end is designed for reversing in ice and protects the propellers and rudder. Of course, the hull of an icebreaker is much stronger than the hulls of conventional ships: it is double, and the outer hull is 2–3 cm thick, and in the area of ​​the so-called ice belt (i.e., in places where ice breaks), the plating sheets are thickened up to 5 cm.

When meeting with the ice field, the icebreaker with its bow crawls onto it, as it were, and breaks through the ice due to vertical force. Then the broken ice is moved apart and melted by the sides, and a free channel is formed behind the icebreaker. In this case, the ship moves continuously at a constant speed. If the ice floe has special strength, then the icebreaker moves back and runs into it at high speed, i.e., cuts ice with blows. In rare cases, an icebreaker can get stuck - for example, crawl onto a solid ice floe and not break it - or be crushed by ice. To get out of this difficult situation, water tanks are provided between the outer and inner hulls - in the bow, in the stern, on the port and starboard sides. By pumping water from tank to tank, the crew can rock the icebreaker and pull it out of the ice captivity. You can simply empty the containers - then the ship will float a little.

To prevent the bow from being covered with ice, a turbocharged anti-icing device is used on the icebreaker. It works as follows. Compressed air is supplied overboard through pipelines. Floating air bubbles do not allow pieces of ice to freeze to the body, and also reduce its friction on the ice. At the same time, the icebreaker goes faster, and shakes it less.

An icebreaker can be followed by one or more ships (caravan). If the ice conditions are difficult or the transport vessel is wider than the icebreaker, then two or more icebreakers can be used for assistance. In particular difficult ice the icebreaker takes the escorted vessel in tow: the stern of the nuclear-powered ship has a V-shaped recess, where the bow of the transport vessel is pulled tightly with a winch.

One of the interesting features of the 50 Let Pobedy nuclear-powered icebreaker is the presence of an environmental compartment, which contains the latest equipment that allows the collection and disposal of all waste generated during the operation of the vessel. In other words, nothing is dumped into the ocean! Other nuclear-powered icebreakers also have municipal waste incinerators and wastewater treatment plants.

All nuclear-powered icebreakers and the Sevmorput lighter carrier were transferred under the control of the enterprise of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom - FSUE Atomflot, which not only operates them, but also technical support. Coastal infrastructure, floating technical bases, a special tanker for liquid radioactive waste, a dosimetric control vessel - all this ensures the continuous operation of the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet. But in ten years, most nuclear icebreakers will be decommissioned, and practice has shown that we have nothing to do in the Arctic without them. How will nuclear icebreaking develop?


Development prospects

Until relatively recently, the prospects for the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet were very gloomy. Newspapers wrote that the country could lose its unique fleet, and with it the Northern Sea Route (NSR). This would mean not only the loss of leadership and technology, but also a slowdown in the economic development of the Far North and the Arctic regions of Siberia. After all, there is simply no transport highway, including a land one, that could serve as an alternative to the NSR.

There are also questions to the existing nuclear icebreakers. The tonnage of ships navigating the NSR is gradually growing, and so are their dimensions. To ensure the required speed of wiring, a wide channel in the ice and increased power are needed. Therefore, the dimensions of the icebreaker itself should also be increased. But at the same time, a nuclear-powered icebreaker, which does not need a supply of fuel, begins to float, the draft becomes smaller and the ice-breaking capacity decreases. In order to increase the draft and protect the propellers from ice, it is necessary to build into the ship's hull a system of containers filled with water and giving additional weight.

Thus, even the existing nuclear-powered ships do not meet the latest requirements. Therefore, the modernization and development of the nuclear icebreaker fleet has become a truly state task and is under the close attention of the Government of the Russian Federation.

The project of a new type of icebreakers - LK-60Ya - is already being implemented. One of them, Arktika, has been under construction since 2013, the second, Siberia, was laid down quite recently, in May 2015 (at the same time, the icebreakers under construction inherited the names of the first two ships of the Arctic series). In total, there are three new vessels in the near future, including those mentioned.


Characteristics of nuclear icebreakers and the ship "Sevmorput" (according to FSUE "Atomflot", 2010)

What will be the new look of the nuclear icebreaker? Of course, it will combine the successful experience of creating and operating existing nuclear-powered ships and innovative approaches. But the main thing is that the new icebreaker will be a two-draft (universal) one, which will allow it to successfully carry out operations not only at sea, but also in estuaries. Now we have to use two icebreakers, one of which (of the Arktika class) goes through deep-water places, and the second (with a shallow draft, for example, of the Taimyr class) passes through the rapids and enters the mouths of the rivers. The new project provides for the possibility of changing the draft from 10.5 to 8.5 m by the nuclear icebreaker by drying/filling the built-in tanks with sea water, i.e. one nuclear-powered icebreaker will be able to replace two old ones at once!

But two-draft nuclear-powered ships are not the limit of design thought. While icebreakers of the LK-60Ya type are being built, engineers are already working on the next project, which will bring nuclear icebreaker construction to a new stage of development. We are talking about a ship of the LK-110YA type (also known as the "Leader") - a large vessel with a propeller power of 110 MW. In terms of performance, the LK-110Ya will be far superior to the icebreakers of the Arktika class: the Leader will be able to break ice up to at least 3.7 m thick (two human heights!). This will ensure year-round navigation along the entire NSR (and not just along its western part, as it is now). At the same time, the increased width of the LK-110Ya will make it possible to carry large-capacity vessels. Currently, the project is at the stage of developing design documentation (the expected completion date for the "paper" part is 2016).

There is one more direction in nuclear engineering that needs to be mentioned. Icebreaking power plants KLT-40 proved to be so good that it was decided to include them in the project of a floating nuclear power plant(PATES). It is indispensable in the underdeveloped regions of the country, including on the Arctic coast, since it practically does not need fuel supplies. There is no need to cut down the forest, build roads, bring building materials for it: they brought it, put it at a special pier - and you can use it. The resource ended - they hitched it to a tugboat and took it away for recycling.

FNPP can also be used in the development of fields on the shelf of the Arctic seas to provide electricity to oil and gas platforms.

The first floating power unit - Akademik Lomonosov - was launched on June 30, 2010 at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg. At the moment, the power equipment of the station has been completely manufactured; Reactor units and turbogenerators have already been installed, fitting-out work is underway.

Concluding a brief review, the following should be said: the development of the Arctic - necessary condition development of Russia as a great maritime and Arctic power, and the safe use of nuclear energy determines the economic and technological growth of our state. Therefore, there is confidence: the nuclear icebreaker fleet has an outstanding future and new achievements!

Let's now go through the interior of the icebreaker, with the exception of the wheelhouse.
The post turned out to be large, cumbersome and is more of a compilation of any information :-((



I understand that this is all a large-scale repetition of a huge number of photographs of people who visited the ship on excursions, especially since they drive to the same places. But it was interesting for me to figure it out myself.

This is our nuclear-powered guide:

It was about creating a ship that can sail for a very long time without calling at ports for fuel.
Scientists have calculated that a nuclear-powered icebreaker will consume 45 grams of nuclear fuel per day - as much as will fit in a matchbox. That is why the nuclear-powered ship, having a practically unlimited navigation area, will be able to visit both the Arctic and off the coast of Antarctica in one voyage. For a ship with a nuclear power plant, the distance is not an obstacle.

Initially, we were gathered in this hall for a brief introduction to the tour and divided into two groups.

The Admiralty had considerable experience in the repair and construction of icebreakers. Back in 1928, they overhauled the "grandfather of the icebreaker fleet" - the famous "Ermak".
The construction of icebreakers and icebreaking transport vessels at the plant was associated with a new stage in the development of Soviet shipbuilding - the use of electric welding instead of riveting. The plant staff was one of the initiators of this innovation. The new method was successfully tested on the construction of Sedov-type icebreakers. Icebreakers "Okhotsk", "Murman", "Ocean", in the construction of which electric welding was widely used, showed excellent performance; their hull proved to be more durable than other vessels.

Before the Great Patriotic War A large icebreaking and transport vessel "Semyon Dezhnev" was built at the plant, which immediately after sea trials headed for the Arctic to withdraw caravans that had wintered there. Following the "Semyon Dezhnev", the icebreaking transport vessel "Levanevsky" was launched. After the war, the plant built another icebreaker and several self-propelled icebreaker-type ferries.
A large scientific team headed by the outstanding Soviet physicist Academician A.P. Aleksandrov worked on the project. Such prominent specialists as I. I. Afrikantov, A. I. Brandaus, G. A. Gladkov, B. Ya. Gnesin, V. I. Neganov, N. S. Khlopkin, A. N. Stefanovich and Other.

We rise to the floor above

The dimensions of the nuclear-powered ship were chosen taking into account the requirements for the operation of icebreakers in the North and ensuring its best seaworthiness: the length of the icebreaker is 134 m, the width is 27.6 m, the shaft power is 44,000 liters. s., displacement 16,000 tons, speed 18 knots in clear water and 2 knots in ice more than 2 m thick.

Long corridors

The designed power of the turboelectric plant is unparalleled. The nuclear-powered icebreaker is twice as powerful as the American icebreaker "Gletcher", which was considered the largest in the world.
When designing the ship's hull, special attention was paid to the shape of the bow, on which the icebreaking qualities of the vessel largely depend. The contours chosen for the nuclear-powered ship, in comparison with existing icebreakers, allow increasing the pressure on the ice. The aft end is designed in such a way that it provides flotation in ice during reverse gear and reliable protection of propellers and rudder from ice impacts.

Canteen:
And the caboose? This is a fully electrified plant with its own bakery, hot food is served by an electric elevator from the kitchen to the dining rooms.

In practice, it was observed that icebreakers sometimes got stuck in the ice not only with their bow or stern, but also with their sides. To avoid this, it was decided to arrange special systems of ballast tanks on the nuclear-powered ship. If water is pumped from the tank of one side to the tank of the other side, then the ship, swaying from side to side, will break and push the ice apart with its sides. The same system of tanks is installed in the bow and stern. And if the icebreaker does not break the ice on the move and its nose gets stuck? Then you can pump water from the stern trim tank to the bow. The pressure on the ice will increase, it will break, and the icebreaker will come out of the ice captivity.
In order to ensure the unsinkability of such a large vessel, if the skin is damaged, it was decided to subdivide the hull into compartments by eleven main transverse watertight bulkheads. When calculating the nuclear icebreaker, the designers ensured the unsinkability of the vessel when the two largest compartments were flooded.

The team of builders of the polar giant was headed by a talented engineer V. I. Chervyakov.

In July 1956, the first section of the nuclear icebreaker's hull was laid down.
To lay out the theoretical drawing of the building on the plaza, a huge area was required - about 2500 square meters. Instead, the breakdown was made on a special shield using a special tool. This allowed to reduce the area for marking. Then template drawings were made, which were photographed on photographic plates. The projection apparatus, in which the negative was placed, reproduced the light contour of the part on the metal. The photo-optical method of marking made it possible to reduce the labor intensity of plaza and marking work by 40%.

Getting into the engine room

The nuclear-powered icebreaker, as the most powerful vessel in the entire icebreaking fleet, is designed to deal with ice in the most difficult conditions; therefore, its body must be especially strong. It was decided to ensure the high strength of the hull using steel of a new brand. This steel has high impact strength. It welds well and has great resistance to crack propagation at low temperatures.

The design of the hull of the nuclear-powered ship, the system of its set also differed from other icebreakers. The bottom, sides, inner decks, platforms and the upper deck at the extremities were recruited according to the transverse framing system, and the upper deck in the middle part of the icebreaker - according to the longitudinal system.
The building, as high as a good five-story house, consisted of sections weighing up to 75 tons. There were about two hundred such large sections.

The assembly and welding of such sections was carried out by the pre-assembly section of the hull shop.

It is interesting to note that the nuclear-powered ship has two power plants capable of providing energy to a city with a population of 300,000. The ship does not need any machinists or stokers: all the work of power plants is automated.
It should be said about the latest propeller motors. These are unique machines made in the USSR for the first time, especially for the nuclear-powered ship. The numbers speak for themselves: the weight of an average engine is 185 tons, the power is almost 20,000 hp. With. The engine had to be delivered to the icebreaker disassembled, in parts. Loading the engine onto the ship presented great difficulties.

They also love cleanliness.

From the pre-assembly section, the finished sections were delivered directly to the slipway. Assemblers and checkers installed them without delay.
During the manufacture of units for the first experimental standard sections, it turned out that the steel sheets from which they should be made weigh 7 tons, and the cranes available at the procurement site had a lifting capacity of only up to 6 tons.
The presses were also underpowered.

One more instructive example of the close community of workers, engineers and scientists should be mentioned.
According to the approved design technology from of stainless steel welded by hand. More than 200 experiments have been carried out; finally, the welding modes were worked out. Five automatic welders replaced 20 manual welders who were transferred to work in other areas.

There was, for example, such a case. Due to the very large dimensions, it was impossible to deliver by rail to the factory fore and sternpost - the main structures of the bow and stern of the ship. Massive, heavy, weighing 30 and 80 g, they did not fit on any railway platforms. Engineers and workers decided to make the stems directly at the factory by welding their individual parts.

To imagine the complexity of assembling and welding the mounting joints of these stems, suffice it to say that the minimum thickness of the welded parts reached 150 mm. Welding of the stem continued for 15 days in 3 shifts.

While the building was being erected on the slipway, parts, pipelines, and devices were manufactured and assembled in various workshops of the plant. Many of them came from other companies. The main turbine generators were built at the Kharkov Electromechanical Plant, propeller motors - at the Leningrad Electrosila Plant named after S. M. Kirov. Such electric motors were created in the USSR for the first time.
Steam turbines were assembled in the workshops of the Kirov Plant.

The use of new materials required a change in many of the established technological processes. Pipelines were mounted on the nuclear-powered ship, which were previously connected by soldering.
In collaboration with the specialists of the welding bureau of the plant, the workers of the assembly shop developed and introduced electric arc welding of pipes.

The nuclear-powered ship required several thousand pipes of various lengths and diameters. Experts have calculated that if the pipes are pulled out in one line, their length will be 75 kilometers.

Finally, the time arrived for the completion of the slipway work.
Before the descent, one difficulty arose, then another.
So, it was not easy to install a heavy rudder blade. Putting it in place in the usual way did not allow the complex design of the aft end of the nuclear-powered ship. In addition, by the time the huge part was installed, the upper deck had already been closed. Under these conditions, it was impossible to take risks. We decided to hold a "general rehearsal" - first we put not a real baller, but its "double" - a wooden model of the same dimensions. The "rehearsal" was a success, the calculations were confirmed. Soon, the multi-ton part was quickly brought into place.

The descent of the icebreaker into the water was just around the corner. The large launch weight of the vessel (11,000 tons) made it difficult to design a launching device, although specialists have been engaged in this device almost from the moment the first sections were laid on the slipway.

According to the calculations of the design organization, in order to launch the Lenin icebreaker into the water, it was necessary to lengthen the underwater part of the launch tracks and deepen the bottom behind the slipway pit.
A group of employees of the design bureau of the plant and the hull shop developed a more advanced trigger device compared to the original project.

For the first time in the practice of domestic shipbuilding, a spherical wooden rotary device and a number of other new design solutions were used.
To reduce the launch weight, ensure greater stability when launching and braking a vessel that has descended from the slipway into the water, special pontoons were brought under the stern and bow.
The icebreaker's hull was freed from scaffolding. Surrounded by portal cranes, sparkling with fresh paint, he was ready to set off on his first short journey - to the water surface of the Neva.

Move on

We're going down

. . . PJ. To an uninitiated person, these three letters do not say anything. PEV - post of energy and survivability - the brain of icebreaker control. From here, with the help of automatic devices, operating engineers - people of a new profession in the fleet - can remotely control the operation of the steam generator unit. From here, the necessary mode of operation of the "heart" of the nuclear-powered ship - the reactors - is maintained.

Experienced sailors, who have been sailing on ships of various types for many years, are surprised: PEJ specialists wear snow-white bathrobes over the usual marine uniform.

The post of energy and survivability, as well as the wheelhouse and crew cabins are located in the central superstructure.

And now on to the story:

December 5, 1957 In the morning it was continuously drizzling, with occasional sleet falling. A sharp, gusty wind blew from the bay. But people did not seem to notice the gloomy Leningrad weather. Long before the icebreaker was launched, the platforms around the slipway were filled with people. Many boarded a tanker under construction next door.

Exactly at noon, the nuclear-powered icebreaker "Lenin" anchored in the very place where, on the memorable night of October 25, 1917, the "Aurora" - the legendary ship of the October Revolution - stood.

The construction of the nuclear-powered ship entered a new period - its completion afloat began.

The nuclear power plant is the most important section of the icebreaker. The most prominent scientists worked on the design of the reactor. Each of the three reactors is almost 3.5 times more powerful than the reactor of the world's first nuclear power plant of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

OK-150 "Lenin" (until 1966)
Rated power of the reactor, VMT 3х90
Rated steam capacity, t/h 3х120
Power on propellers, l/s 44,000

The layout of all installations - block. Each block includes a pressurized water reactor (i.e. water is both a coolant and a neutron moderator), four circulation pumps and four steam generators, volume compensators, an ion exchange filter with a cooler, and other equipment.

The reactor, pumps and steam generators have separate casings and are connected to each other by short pipes of the "pipe in pipe" type. All equipment is located vertically in the caissons of the iron-water protection tank and is closed with small-sized protection blocks, which ensures easy accessibility during repair work.

A nuclear reactor is technical installation, in which a controlled chain reaction of nuclear fission of heavy elements is carried out with the release of nuclear energy. The reactor consists of an active zone and a reflector. Water-to-water reactor - water in it is both a fast neutron moderator and a cooling and heat exchange medium. The active zone contains nuclear fuel in a protective coating (fuel elements - fuel elements) and a moderator. The fuel rods, which look like thin rods, are assembled into bundles and enclosed in covers. Such structures are called fuel assemblies of fuel assemblies.

The fuel rods, which look like thin rods, are assembled into bundles and enclosed in covers. Such structures are called fuel assemblies (FA). The reactor core is a set of active parts of fresh fuel assemblies (SFA), which in turn consist of fuel elements (TVEL). 241 STVs are placed in the reactor. The resource of the modern core (2.1-2.3 million MWh) provides the energy needs of the ship with nuclear power plants for 5-6 years. After the energy resource of the core is exhausted, the reactor is recharged.

The reactor vessel with an elliptical bottom is made of low-alloy heat-resistant steel with anti-corrosion hardfacing on the inner surfaces.

The principle of operation of APPU
The thermal scheme of the PPU of a nuclear vessel consists of 4 circuits.

The coolant of the first circuit (highly purified water) is pumped through the reactor core. Water is heated to 317 degrees, but does not turn into steam, because it is under pressure. From the reactor, the coolant of the 1st circuit enters the steam generator, washing the pipes inside which the water of the 2nd circuit flows, turning into superheated steam. Further, the coolant of the first circuit is again fed into the reactor by the circulation pump.

From the steam generator, superheated steam (coolant of the second circuit) enters the main turbines. Steam parameters before the turbine: pressure - 30 kgf/cm2 (2.9 MPa), temperature - 300 °C. Then the steam condenses, the water passes through the ion-exchange purification system and enters the steam generator again.

Circuit III is intended for cooling the APPU equipment, high-purity water (distillate) is used as a heat carrier. coolant III circuit has little radioactivity.

The IV circuit serves to cool the water in the III circuit system, sea water is used as a heat carrier. Also, the IV circuit is used to cool the steam of the II circuit during distributing and cooling down the installation.

The APPU is designed and placed on the ship in such a way as to ensure the protection of the crew and the public from exposure, and the environment - from contamination with radioactive substances within the permissible safe limits both during normal operation and in case of accidents of the installation and the ship at the expense. To this end, four protective barriers between nuclear fuel and the environment have been created on possible routes for the release of radioactive substances:

the first - shells of the fuel elements of the reactor core;

the second - strong walls of the equipment and pipelines of the primary circuit;

the third is the containment of the reactor plant;

the fourth is a protective fence, the boundaries of which are the longitudinal and transverse bulkheads, the second bottom and the upper deck flooring in the area of ​​the reactor compartment.

Everyone wanted to feel like a little hero :-)))

In 1966, two OK-900s were installed instead of three OK-150s.

OK-900 “Lenin”
Rated power of the reactor, VMT 2x159
Rated steam capacity, t/h 2x220
Power on propellers, l/s 44000

Room in front of the reactor compartment

Windows in the reactor compartment

In February 1965, an accident occurred during scheduled repairs at reactor No. 2 of the Lenin nuclear icebreaker. As a result of operator error, the core was left without water for some time, which caused partial damage to approximately 60% of the fuel assemblies.

With channel-by-channel reloading, only 94 of them were unloaded from the core, the remaining 125 turned out to be unrecoverable. This part was unloaded along with the screen assembly and placed in a special container, which was filled with a hardening mixture based on futurol and then stored onshore for about 2 years.

In August 1967, the reactor compartment with the OK-150 nuclear power plant and its own sealed bulkheads was flooded directly from the Lenin icebreaker through the bottom in the shallow Tsivolki Bay in the northern part of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago at a depth of 40-50 m.

Before the flooding, nuclear fuel was unloaded from the reactors, and their first circuits were washed, drained and sealed. According to the Iceberg Central Design Bureau, the reactors were filled with a hardening mixture based on futurol before being flooded.

A container with 125 spent fuel assemblies filled with Futurol was moved from the shore, placed inside a special pontoon and flooded. By the time of the accident, the ship's nuclear power plant had operated for about 25,000 hours.

After that, ok-150 and were replaced by ok-900
Once again about the principles of work:
How does an icebreaker's nuclear power plant work?
In the reactor, uranium rods are placed in a special order. The system of uranium rods is penetrated by a swarm of neutrons, a kind of "fuse", causing the decay of uranium atoms with the release of a huge amount of thermal energy. The rapid motion of neutrons is tamed by the moderator. Myriads of controlled atomic explosions, caused by a stream of neutrons, occur in the thickness of uranium rods. As a result, a so-called chain reaction is formed.
bw photos are not mine

Peculiarity nuclear reactors icebreaker is that not graphite is used as a neutron moderator, as at the first Soviet nuclear power plant, but distilled water. The uranium rods placed in the reactor are surrounded by the purest water (twice distilled). If you fill a bottle with it to the neck, then it will be absolutely impossible to notice whether water is poured into the bottle or not: the water is so transparent!
In the reactor, water is heated above the melting point of lead - more than 300 degrees. Water at this temperature does not boil because it is under a pressure of 100 atmospheres.

The water in the reactor is radioactive. With the help of pumps, it is driven through a special apparatus-steam generator, where it turns non-radioactive water into steam with its heat. The steam enters a turbine that drives a DC generator. The generator supplies current to the propulsion motors. The exhaust steam is sent to the condenser, where it turns back into water, which is again pumped into the steam generator by a pump. Thus, in a system of complex mechanisms, a kind of water cycle occurs.
B&W photos taken by me from the Internet

The reactors are installed in special metal drums welded into a stainless steel tank. From above, the reactors are closed with lids, under which there are various devices for automatically lifting and moving uranium rods. The entire operation of the reactor is controlled by instruments, and if necessary, "mechanical arms"-manipulators come into action, which can be controlled from a distance, being outside the compartment.

The reactor can be viewed on TV at any time.
Everything that poses a danger with its radioactivity is carefully isolated and located in a special compartment.
The drainage system diverts dangerous liquids to a special tank. There is also a system for trapping air with traces of radioactivity. The air flow from the central compartment is thrown through the main mast to a height of 20 m.
In all corners of the ship, you can see special dosimeters, ready at any time to notify of increased radioactivity. In addition, each crew member is equipped with an individual pocket-type dosimeter. The safe operation of the icebreaker is fully ensured.
The designers of the nuclear-powered ship provided for all sorts of accidents. If one reactor fails, another one will replace it. The same work on the ship can be performed by several groups of identical mechanisms.
This is the basic principle of operation of the entire system of a nuclear power plant.
In the compartment where the reactors are placed, there is a huge number of pipes of complex configurations and large sizes. The pipes had to be connected not as usual, with the help of flanges, but butt-welded with an accuracy of one millimeter.

Simultaneously with the installation of nuclear reactors, the main mechanisms of the engine room were installed at a rapid pace. Steam turbines were mounted here, rotating generators,
on an icebreaker; there are more than five hundred electric motors of different power on the nuclear-powered ship alone!

Corridor in front of the medical center

While the installation of power systems was underway, engineers worked on how to better and faster mount and put into operation the ship's machinery control system.
All management of the complex economy of the icebreaker is carried out automatically, directly from the wheelhouse. From here, the captain can change the operating mode of the propeller engines.

Actually first-aid post: Medical offices - therapeutic, dental X-ray, physiotherapy, operating room? procedures: Yuya as well as a laboratory and a pharmacy are equipped with the latest medical and preventive equipment.

Work related to the assembly and installation of the ship's superstructure It was not an easy task: to assemble a huge superstructure weighing about 750 tons. A boat with a water jet, main and foremasts were also built for the icebreaker in the workshop.
The four blocks of the superstructure assembled in the shop were delivered to the icebreaker and installed here by a floating crane.

The icebreaker had to perform a huge amount of insulation work. The area of ​​isolation was about 30,000 m2. New materials were used to isolate the premises. Monthly presented for acceptance of 100-120 rooms.

Mooring trials are the third (after the slipway period and completion afloat) stage of the construction of each vessel.

Prior to the launch of the steam generator plant of the icebreaker, steam had to be supplied from the shore. The device of the steam pipeline was complicated by the lack of special flexible hoses of large cross section. It was not possible to use a steam pipeline from ordinary metal pipes, tightly fixed. Then, at the suggestion of a group of innovators, a special hinged device was used, which ensured a reliable supply of steam through the steam line to the nuclear-powered ship.

The electric fire pumps were launched and tested first, and then the entire fire system. Then, tests of the auxiliary boiler plant began.
The engine started up. The instrument needles flickered. One minute, five, ten. . . The engine works great! And after a while, the installers began to adjust the devices that control the temperature of water and oil.

When testing auxiliary turbogenerators and diesel generators, special devices were needed to allow loading two parallel turbogenerators.
How was the test of turbogenerators?
The main difficulty was that during the work the voltage regulators had to be replaced with new, more advanced ones, which provide automatic voltage maintenance even under conditions of high overload.
Mooring tests continued. In January 1959, turbogenerators with all the mechanisms and automatic machines serving them were adjusted and tested. Simultaneously with the testing of auxiliary turbogenerators, electric pumps, ventilation systems and other equipment were tested.
While the mechanisms were being tested, other work was carried out at full speed.

Successfully fulfilling their obligations, the Admiralty in April completed the testing of all the main turbogenerators and propulsion motors. The test results were excellent. All calculated data made by scientists, designers, designers were confirmed. The first stage of testing the nuclear-powered ship was completed. And finished successfully!

April 1959
The installers of the hold department entered the case.

The first-born of the Soviet nuclear fleet, the Lenin icebreaker is a vessel perfectly equipped with all means of modern radio communication, location installations, and the latest navigation equipment. The icebreaker is equipped with two radars - short-range and long-range. The first is designed to solve operational navigation problems, the second - to monitor the environment and the helicopter. In addition, it must duplicate the short-range locator in conditions of snowfall or rain.

The equipment located in the bow and stern radio rooms will ensure reliable communication with the shore, with other ships and aircraft. Internal communication is carried out by an automatic telephone exchange with 100 numbers, separate telephones in various rooms, as well as a powerful general ship radio broadcasting network.
Work on the installation and adjustment of communication facilities was carried out by special teams of installers.
Responsible work was carried out by electricians to put into operation electrical and radio equipment and various devices in the wheelhouse.

The nuclear-powered ship will be able to sail for a long time without calling at ports. So it is very important where and how the crew will live. That is why, when creating the icebreaker project, special attention was paid to the living conditions of the team.

More living rooms

. .. Long bright corridors. Along them are sailor cabins, mostly single, less often for two people. During the day, one of the beds is removed into a niche, the other turns into a sofa. In the cabin, opposite the sofa, there is a desk and a swivel chair. Above the table is a clock and a shelf for books. Nearby are wardrobes for clothes and personal belongings.
In a small entrance vestibule there is another closet - especially for outerwear. A mirror is fixed above a small faience washbasin. Hot and cold water in the taps - around the clock. In short, a cozy modern small-sized apartment.

All rooms have fluorescent lighting. The electrical wiring is hidden under the lining, it is not visible. Milky glass screens cover fluorescent lamps from harsh direct rays. Each bed has a small lamp that gives a soft pink light. After labor day, having come to his cozy cabin, the sailor will be able to have a great rest, read, listen to the radio, music ...

There are also household workshops on the icebreaker - a shoemaker's and a tailor's workshop; there is a hairdressing salon, a mechanical laundry, baths, showers.
We return to the central staircase

We go up to the captain's cabin

More than one and a half thousand cabinets, armchairs, sofas, shelves took their places in the cabins and service rooms. True, all this was made not only by the woodworkers of the Admiralty plant, but also by the workers of the furniture factory No. 3, the plant named after A. Zhdanov, and the Intourist factory. The Admiralty also made 60 separate sets of furniture, as well as various wardrobes, beds, tables, hanging cabinets and bedside tables - beautiful solid furniture.

The Soviet Union broke the ice with nuclear icebreakers and knew no equal. There were no ships of this type anywhere in the world - the USSR had absolute dominance in the ice. 7 Soviet nuclear icebreakers.

"Siberia"

This ship became a direct continuation of the Arktika-type nuclear installations. At the time of commissioning (1977), Siberia had the largest width (29.9 m) and length (147.9 m). The vessel operated a satellite communication system responsible for fax, telephone and navigation. Also present: a sauna, a swimming pool, a training room, a relaxation salon, a library and a huge dining room.
The nuclear-powered icebreaker "Siberia" went down in history as the first ship to carry out year-round navigation in the direction of Murmansk-Dudinka. He also became the second unit that reached the top of the planet, entering the North Pole.

"Lenin"

This icebreaker, launched on December 5, 1957, became the world's first ship equipped with a nuclear power plant. Its most important differences are a high level of autonomy and power. Already during its first use, the vessel demonstrated excellent performance, thanks to which it was possible to significantly increase the navigation period.
During the first six years of operation, the nuclear-powered icebreaker covered more than 82,000 nautical miles, navigating over 400 ships. Later, "Lenin" will be the first of all ships to be north of Severnaya Zemlya.

"Arctic"

This nuclear-powered icebreaker (launched in 1975) was considered the largest of all existing at that time: its width was 30 meters, length - 148 meters, and side height - more than 17 meters. The unit was equipped with a medical unit, where there was an operating room and a dental unit. All conditions were created on the ship, allowing the flight crew and the helicopter to be based.
"Arktika" was able to break through the ice, the thickness of which was five meters, and also move at a speed of 18 knots. The unusual color of the vessel (bright red) was also considered a clear difference, which personified a new nautical era. And the icebreaker was famous for being the first ship that managed to reach the North Pole.

"Russia"

This unsinkable icebreaker, launched in 1985), was the first of a series of Arctic nuclear installations with a capacity of 55.1 MW (75,000 horsepower). The crew has at their disposal: the Internet, the Nature salon with an aquarium and living vegetation, a chess room, a cinema hall, as well as everything else that was present on the Sibir icebreaker.
The main purpose of the installation: cooling of nuclear reactors and use in the conditions of the Arctic Ocean. Since the ship was forced to constantly be in cold water, it could not cross the tropics to find itself in the southern hemisphere.

For the first time, this vessel made a cruise voyage to the North Pole, specially organized for foreign tourists. And in the 20th century, a nuclear icebreaker was used to study the continental shelf at the North Pole.

The design feature of the Sovetsky Soyuz icebreaker, commissioned in 1990, is that it can be retrofitted into a battle cruiser at any time. Initially, the ship was used for Arctic tourism. Making a transpolar cruise, it was possible to install meteorological ice stations operating in automatic mode, as well as an American meteorological buoy. Later, the icebreaker, which was stationed near Murmansk, was used to supply electricity to facilities located near the coast. The vessel also found use in the course of research in the Arctic on the effects of global warming.

"Yamal"

The nuclear icebreaker Yamal was laid down in 1986 in the USSR, and launched after the death of the Soviet Union in 1993. Yamal became the twelfth ship to reach the North Pole. In total, he has 46 flights in this direction, including the one that was specially initiated to meet the third millennium. Several emergencies occurred on the ship, including: a fire, the death of a tourist, and a collision with the Indiga tanker. The icebreaker was not injured during the last emergency, but a deep crack formed in the tanker. It was Yamal that helped transport the damaged ship for repairs.
Six years ago, the ice drift completed a rather important mission: it evacuated archaeologists from the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, who reported their own disaster.

"50 Years of Victory"

This icebreaker is considered the most modern and largest of all existing ones. In 1989, it was laid down under the name "Ural", but since there was not enough funding, for a long time (until 2003) it stood unfinished. Only since 2007 the ship could be operated. During the first tests, the nuclear-powered icebreaker demonstrated reliability, maneuverability, and a top speed of 21.4 knots.
At the disposal of the ship's passengers: music room, library, swimming pool, sauna, gym, restaurant, and satellite TV.
The main task assigned to the icebreaker is escorting caravans in the Arctic seas. But the ship was also intended for Arctic cruises.

Today, about 300,000 people live in the port city of Murmansk. The figure is not impressive, however, it is the largest city in the world located beyond the Arctic Circle.

The port is located on the Kola Bay, which never freezes even despite the polar latitudes, thanks to which ships and ships from all over the world can enter here all year round. Thanks to the warm ocean currents, the Barents Sea is not completely covered with ice, and in the city itself it is not so cold in winter. Originating in the Caribbean, the Gulf Stream rushes across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe, washing the shores of Great Britain and Iceland along the way. The thermal power of this flow is equivalent to a million nuclear power plants. This is enough for the climate of Northern Europe to be mild and the Barents Sea to remain navigable all year round. Further, where there is no warm current east of Novaya Zemlya, the only ships that can sail freely are icebreakers. A very important transport corridor passes through the ice of the Arctic - the Northern Sea Route through the ports of Murmansk-Salekhard-Dudinka. It not only opens up access to the territories of Eastern Siberia, but is also a promising route for international shipping. The route from the North Sea to the Sea of ​​Japan through the Suez Canal past pirate Somalia is 23,000 km, and if an icebreaker crosses the Arctic Ocean, then only 14,000.

The Lenin, built in 1959, was the world's first nuclear-powered icebreaker. Of course, before him there were diesel and steam icebreakers, but it was the nuclear ones that made it possible to take a completely new look at the development of the Arctic expanses. With the advent of nuclear-powered ships, navigation along the Northern Sea Route became possible all year round. The main advantage of a nuclear icebreaker is autonomy. It does not need to replenish its coal and diesel fuel reserves. This allowed the Lenin nuclear-powered icebreaker to cover 150,000 km in the first 6 years of operation and navigate more than 400 ships along the Northern Sea Route. It was replaced by nuclear icebreaker"Arktika", which laid the foundation for a whole family of icebreaking ships of the same class. In 1977, the Arktika became the first ship in the world to reach the North Pole while on the surface. The special design of the icebreaker's hull makes it possible to break through three-meter ice.

icebreaker Yamal photo

The main difference between the icebreaker and other vessels is the shape of the hull. The sloping nose resembles a spoon in shape. The icebreaker does not have a wave suppressor typical of other vessels. Below the waterline there is an ice protection belt made of 5 cm thick steel sheets welded together. The vessel also has a reinforced stem. This design allows the icebreaker to run into thick ice and break through it with its huge weight.

Anti-icing devices are installed along the entire side to prevent ice from freezing on the vessel during moorings. Air is supplied through them under pressure. Air bubbles escaping from the nozzles create foam that prevents the formation of ice on the icebreaker's hull. The icebreaker's rudder is made with a significant margin of safety than on conventional ships. This is a necessary measure, because often especially solid ice you have to overcome it in reverse, crushing the ice with propellers.

Today ROSATOMFLOT employs 6 nuclear-powered icebreakers. They conduct their main work from summer to late autumn, when the ice conditions are lighter, and in winter, scheduled repairs are carried out on ships. One of the operating icebreakers is Yamal.

The nuclear-powered icebreaker Yamal belongs to the Arktika class. The length of the vessel is 150 meters, the displacement is 23 thousand tons, the capacity of the power plant is 70 thousand liters. s., maximum speed 21 knots. One charge of nuclear fuel is enough for five years of service.

The movement of the vessel is carried out from the navigation bridge by means of three controls, which receive energy from two nuclear reactors. This icebreaker is quite a maneuverable vessel. Changing from FULL REVERSE to FULL FORWARD takes just 11 seconds. When driving in three-meter ice, icebreaker makes its way with blows, the ship accelerates and breaks through the ice for several tens of meters, then moves back, and picks up speed again. The average speed in this case drops to two kilometers per hour. One of the main systems of an icebreaking vessel is a system of ballast tanks. It is available on all ships, however, on icebreakers, water tanks are used so that the icebreaker does not get stuck in the ice. Trim tanks, which are located on the bow and stern, are responsible for tilting along the longitudinal axis. An additional 1000 tons of water can be pumped into the bow tank to make it easier to break strong ice with weight. Heel tanks are on the sides, they deflect the ship along the transverse axis. All navigational information is displayed at the navigator's workplace. For reliability, the icebreaker has several radars of different systems. They help boatmasters to determine the position and the difference with other vessels.

The Yamal icebreaker is equipped with two nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 55 MW, a fuel reserve of 200 kg of uranium, which is enough for 5 years of continuous operation.

After the navigation bridge, the second most important room on the ship is the central control post. During the stay, nuclear reactors are muffled, but this does not mean that they are turned off, it’s just that all their processes are slowed down, the installations produce 1/1000 of their rated power, however, they must be constantly monitored. This is exactly what watch mechanics at the central control post are doing around the clock. The dosimetrist on duty monitors the readings of hundreds of sensors installed throughout the icebreaker, if the radiation background is exceeded somewhere, an indicator will immediately light up on a special shield. In addition to automatic measurements, control measurements are regularly carried out in the reactor compartment. The central compartment has its own strict access control. A ship reactor does not differ in principle from a reactor at a nuclear power plant, only on a ship it is smaller and more compact.

Water circulates in the core, into which the rods are immersed, inside which there are uranium pellets. When a free neutron collides with a nucleus, it decays with the release of a large amount of energy, two new neutrons fly out of it, which split new uranium nuclei. Thus, a chain reaction occurs, which heats the water up to 300 degrees. To control the temperature, graphite rods are lowered into the reactor, which absorb excess neutrons. The higher the position of the rods, the fewer neutrons it catches and the more active the chain reaction is. Circulation pumps constantly pump water through the reactor, removing heat to heat exchangers. When the reactor is shut down for the duration of the stop, the nuclear reaction inside almost stops, and there is practically no radiation. Nevertheless, everyone leaving the reactor compartment undergoes mandatory dosimetric control. A special installation will feel even an infected speck of dust that has settled on the suit, and if it finds it, the door will not open and the mechanic will have to go for decontamination.

According to the principle of movement, the Yamal icebreaker belongs to nuclear steam-electric ships. That is, electricity for engines is generated using steam heated to 300 degrees in a nuclear reactor. The steam pressure is 30 kg sq. see Turbines on icebreakers are different from those installed at nuclear power plants. At nuclear power plants, to increase efficiency, the turbine consists of three sections designed for different pressures. On ship installations, power had to be sacrificed for the sake of compactness. From the turbine is a long shaft. It has three generators that generate a total of 27.5 thousand kW, and two turbines with six generators generate 55 thousand kW. This would be enough to operate approximately 50,000 household electric kettles. All this energy is spent on the operation of marching electric motors. Electric generators produce alternating electric current with a voltage of 1000 volts. Motors require direct current to run. A whole transformer compartment copes with this problem. A propeller shaft emerges from the electric motor, at the end of which a propeller is located. When the captain on the bridge gives the command "FULLY FORWARD", the engine starts to rotate at 20 rpm, and all this speed is transferred to the propeller, when the captain gives the command "FULLY FORWARD", the engine rotates at 150 rpm, and this accelerates the icebreaker to its maximum speed of 22 knots.

The watch on the icebreaker lasts 4 months, but it happens that people are delayed for one year. Therefore, it is very important that sailors can relax and feel at home at any time. It is for recreation on board that there is a real pool. There is one thing about the stern of an icebreaker that sets them apart from other ships. The fact is that in conditions of heavy wiring, and when the ice is difficult, ships are towed on the "mustache". The vessel stands right behind the icebreaker and is pulled up by the towing winch in such a way that the bow of the vessel falls into a special recess. Thus, ice closures are excluded between the towed vessel and the icebreaker, and, in turn, the wiring becomes much easier. For movement in the Arctic, it is very important to have an accurate picture of the ice situation, so all icebreakers have a helipad with a helicopter hangar. On the fifth bridge, located above the wheelhouse, searchlights with 50 kW lamps are installed, which, with a powerful sheaf of light, grab the space in front of the icebreaker, illuminating the polar ice.

 

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