December 3 marks the Day of the Nuclear Icebreaker Fleet of Russia. On this day in 1959, the state flag of the USSR was raised on the world's first nuclear icebreaker, which was named "Lenin". This date is considered the birthday of the nuclear icebreaker fleet of Russia.
The nuclear–powered vessel "Lenin" was created to ensure navigation in the cold seas of the Arctic Ocean, through which the Northern Sea Route (NSR) passes - Russia's main sea communication in the Arctic, connecting European and Far Eastern ports, as well as the mouths of navigable Siberian rivers into a single transport system. These seas have a seasonal ice cover, and some parts of them are covered with ice throughout the year.
Until the 1960s, the duration of navigation in the Arctic Ocean was two to four months, usually with the help of diesel icebreakers, which had a small capacity of power plants that did not allow them to force heavy ice in early spring and late autumn. In addition, diesel icebreakers had enough fuel for a maximum of a month of travel, which was not enough for northern navigation, and refueling in heavy ice conditions was practically impossible. Vessels were required that could accompany the caravans throughout the navigation. They became nuclear icebreakers – vessels with a nuclear power plant, having almost unlimited navigation autonomy, the ability to maintain a high speed for a long time. Also, with the nuclear engine, the icebreaker's power increased many times, which made it possible to pass thicker ice.
The decision to build the first nuclear icebreaker was made on November 20, 1953, its laying took place on August 24, 1956 on the slipway of the Admiralty Plant in Leningrad (now JSC Admiralty Shipyards, St. Petersburg). On December 5, 1959, the nuclear icebreaker Lenin was put into operation. More than 500 enterprises and organizations of the country took part in its creation. The work of the icebreaker confirmed the high efficiency of the use of nuclear energy on icebreaker fleet vessels.
From 1971 to 1992, nuclear icebreakers "Arctic", "Siberia", "Russia", "Soviet Union" and "Yamal" were built at the Baltic Plant in Leningrad. From 1982 to 1988 at the Kerch shipyard "Bay" was created a lighter container ship "Sevmorput". Nuclear icebreakers "Taimyr" and "Vaigach" were built by order of the USSR at the shipyard of the company "Wartsila" in Finland from 1985 to 1989. When they were created, Soviet equipment (power plant) and steel were used. "Taimyr" was commissioned on June 30, 1989, and "Vaigach" – on July 25, 1990. Due to the reduced draft, they could serve vessels following the Northern Sea Route with entry into the mouths of Siberian rivers.
In 1989, another nuclear icebreaker was laid down, which received the original name "Ural". The ship was launched in 1993. Then, due to the economic crisis in the country, the financing of the construction of the nuclear-powered vessel was discontinued. Work on it resumed only in the late 1990s. The icebreaker was commissioned in March 2007 under the name "50 years of Victory".
The nuclear-powered vessels allowed to master new navigation routes and the wiring of vessels along high–latitude and polar routes, in the 1970s and 1980s significantly extend the terms of Arctic navigation throughout the Northern Sea Route, and in the western Arctic region - to ensure the operation of the fleet year-round. In 1961, the nuclear-powered vessel "Lenin" for the first time delivered and landed winterers on an ice floe, ensuring the organization of the drifting polar station "North Pole-10". In 1977, the Arctic nuclear-powered vessel reached the geographical point of the North Pole for the first time in the world in active navigation. In 1983, the crew of the Arctic managed to prevent the severe consequences of abnormally difficult navigation in the eastern region of the Northern Sea Route, thanks to which the frozen vessels and their crews were rescued, as well as the declared cargoes were delivered to the coast in a timely manner. The crew of the nuclear-powered vessel "Russia" was the first to make a flight with tourists to the North Pole in 1990. In the future, such flights became regular during the summer season and were carried out on the nuclear-powered ships "Soviet Union", "Yamal", and later on the nuclear-powered ship "50 years of Victory". Thanks to the nuclear icebreaker "Russia" in 2007, for the first time, the flag of Russia was installed at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, at the pole point.
No complex expedition can do without Russian nuclear icebreakers. In 2004, the nuclear icebreaker "Soviet Union" together with the Swedish diesel icebreaker "Oden" ensured the ice safety of drilling operations at the North Pole. In 2007, the nuclear icebreaker Rossiya assisted in carrying out work on the Mir deep-sea vehicles.
Currently, Russia has the only nuclear icebreaker fleet in the world, designed to solve the tasks of ensuring a national presence in the Arctic based on the use of advanced nuclear achievements. Nuclear icebreakers provide ships in the waters of the Northern Sea Route to the freezing ports of the country, conduct high-latitude research expeditions, rescue operations in the ice in the waters of the NSR and non-Arctic freezing seas, and also carry out tourist cruises to the North Pole, islands and archipelagos of the Central Arctic.
The possibility of surface navigation in long-term ice allows Russia to ensure the presence of Navy ships and supply military facilities in the Arctic. In the last ten years, the modernization of the military infrastructure in this region has been carried out. The Ministry of Defense is building bases, airfields and strong points on remote northern islands. The nuclear icebreaker fleet helps him in this.
The importance of the Arctic waters for Russia's domestic needs will only increase in the near future, which is already confirmed by statistics. Thus, the volume of cargo transportation between Russian ports along the NSR is steadily increasing – from 2.8 million tons in 2013 to 34.85 million tons in 2021. In addition, the overall intensity of shipping along the Arctic highway has also increased. The Northern Sea Route has become not only the shortest waterway between European Russia and the Far East, but also a unique transcontinental route of considerable interest to the economies of many countries of the world.
The nuclear fleet of the Russian Federation belongs to the state. In the USSR, nuclear icebreakers were assigned to the Murmansk Shipping Company. A special base for nuclear icebreakers was created in Murmansk, where they were repaired and reloaded with nuclear fuel. The Atomflot enterprise grew out of it over time.
After the collapse of the USSR, in the early 1990s, the nuclear icebreaking fleet of Russia was transferred to the trust management of the newly incorporated Murmansk Shipping Company.
In 2008, the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Atomflot became part of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom and vessels with a nuclear power plant and nuclear technological service vessels were transferred to it. FSUE Atomflot, based two kilometers from the northern border of Murmansk, is designed to provide operation and technological maintenance of nuclear icebreakers and auxiliary fleet vessels.
The first built nuclear-powered ships that have developed their technical resource are gradually being decommissioned ("Lenin" in 1989, "Siberia" in 1992, "Arctic" in 2008, "Russia" in 2013). In 2017, it was decided to dispose of the Soviet Union nuclear-powered vessel, although earlier it was supposed to extend the life of its reactor plant for another 20 years.
On the remaining nuclear icebreakers built in Soviet times, work was carried out to extend the life of reactor installations. The operation of the nuclear–powered vessel "Vaigach" is scheduled to be completed at the turn of 2023-2024, "Taimyr" – in 2025-2026, "Yamal" - in 2027-2028. The completion of the operation of the nuclear icebreaker "50 years of Victory" is attributed to 2035.
Instead of retiring nuclear-powered ships, new universal nuclear icebreakers of Project 22220 have been built at the Baltic Plant in St. Petersburg since 2013. They have, in addition to the nuclear installation, electric propulsion systems, which significantly reduces the cost of ship operation and facilitates the work of the crew. The reactors work not only on steam turbines, which in turn rotate the propeller shafts, they act as power plants that supply current to all consumers of the vessel, including engines. And this is how they differ from the icebreakers of the previous generation. Icebreakers of the 22220 project can conduct caravans of ships in Arctic conditions, breaking ice up to three meters thick along the way. The two-stage design of nuclear-powered vessels with adjustable immersion depth allows them to be used both in Arctic waters and in the mouths of polar rivers.
The lead nuclear icebreaker of the project 22220 "Arctic" was launched in 2016, and in 2020 it hosted a solemn ceremony of raising the state flag of the Russian Federation. In December 2021, the first serial Russian nuclear icebreaker of the project 22220 "Siberia" was commissioned. In November 2022, the Russian flag was raised on the second serial nuclear icebreaker Ural and the icebreaker Yakutia was launched. According to the plans, the Ural nuclear-powered vessel will start performing tasks in December 2022, and the Yakutia icebreaker should be handed over to the fleet at the end of 2024. The delivery of another icebreaker of the same series "Chukotka" is scheduled for 2026. In addition, in 2027, the construction of the heavy-duty nuclear icebreaker Rossiya of Project 10510 Leader is to be completed at the Zvezda shipyard in the Far East. The vessels of the 10510 project will be needed to ensure year-round navigation along the Northern Sea Route.
Without modern icebreakers, it is also impossible to solve many socio-economic problems that Russia faces in the Arctic. This includes the development of the Far North, the realization of the oil and gas potential of the Arctic shelf of Russia, geological exploration to explore the Arctic shelf areas, the development of deposits and all service infrastructure, as well as the efficient operation and export of extracted products.
Currently, the current Russian nuclear fleet includes two nuclear icebreakers with a two-reactor nuclear power plant with a capacity of 75 thousand horsepower (Yamal, 50 Years of Victory), two icebreakers with a single-reactor plant with a capacity of about 50 thousand horsepower (Taimyr, Vaigach), universal nuclear icebreakers of the project 22220 "Arctic" and "Siberia", a nuclear lighter-container ship "Sevmorput" and four technological service vessels.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
