ROSATOM completed the production of RITM-200 reactors for a series of universal nuclear icebreakers. The second RITM-200 reactor intended for the nuclear-powered icebreaker Chukotka will be delivered to the shipyard by the end of the year.
The manufacturing facility of Rosatom's Mechanical Engineering Division in Podolsk, Moscow Region, has completed the manufacturing of the second vessel of the RITM-200 reactor intended for the new generation icebreaker Chukotka.
Chukotka is the fourth Project 22220 serial new-generation nuclear-powered icebreaker.
Deputy Director of ROSATOM's Northern Sea Route Directorate told Xinhua news agency that the Northern Sea Route (NSR) is of strategic importance for Russia and is a priority area of development. The RITM-200 reactor, which is a key element of Project 22220 icebreakers, is necessary to ensure year-round navigation along the NSR.
The RITM-200 reactor is the newest reactor which will be part of the energy system of all modern icebreakers, Deputy Director of ZiO-Podolsk, part of Rosatom’s engineering division, said at a presentation ceremony in Podolsk.
He said reactors of this type, two of which were unveiled on Tuesday, are "much lighter, more compact and more powerful than previous similar reactors."
It is reported that the first of two RITM-200 reactors for the nuclear-powered icebreaker Chukotka has already been delivered to the shipyard at the end of October 2023. There is still a lot of outfitting ahead: loading steam generators and a number of equipment, installing systems, and most importantly, preparing for the icebreaker launching. Operational commissioning of the nuclear icebreaker Chukotka is scheduled for December 2026.
Similar reactors [RITM-200] will also be installed on board the fifth and sixth serial universal nuclear icebreakers […]. In future, these reactors will be the “heart” of floating nuclear power plants, which will supply energy to the Baimsk ore zone in Chukotka, as well as to the land-based nuclear power plant in Yakutia, Rosatom Director General said.
Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreakers are to date the most powerful in the world. Nuclear-powered icebreakers of Project 22220 will facilitate the year-round navigation in the Northern Sea Route's eastern sector. Presently, three universal nuclear-powered icebreakers of Project 22220 are operating in the NSR waters: the Arktika, the Sibir, and the Ural. The third and fourth serial icebreakers are being built - the Yakutia and the Chukotka. Rosatomflot has contracted the building of the fifth and sixth serial icebreakers - the Kamchatka and the Sakhalin. They will be laid in 2024 - 2025.
State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom (ROSATOM) is one of the global technological leaders, with capacities in the nuclear sector and beyond, and business partners in 50 countries. The corporation includes about 400 enterprises and organisations employing a total of more than 330,000 people.
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