Russian Naval Shipyard starts up nuclear reactor on Ural icebreaker.

According to information published by Tass on May 31, 2022, the Baltic Shipyard has started up the nuclear reactor of the Ural icebreaker of Project 22220.
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Project 22220 icebreaker Ural (Picture source: Tass)

The reactor operated at a minimal controlled level and the start-up equipment was calibrated.

Chief shipbuilder of the icebreaker Valentin Danilin said the operation proceeded in a normal regime. “Due to the experience obtained on previous project 22220 icebreakers (the Arktika and the Sibir) the operation proceeded strictly in compliance with the schedule and daily tasks,” he said.

The Ural is to be commissioned in late 2022. The Baltic Shipyard is also building the Yakutia and the Chukotka icebreakers of project 22220.

About Ural icebreaker

Ural is 173.3 metres (569 ft) long overall and has a maximum beam of 34 metres (112 ft). Designed to operate efficiently both in shallow Arctic river estuaries as well as along the Northern Sea Route, the draught of the vessel can be varied between about 9 and 10.5 metres (30 and 34 ft) by taking in and discharging ballast water, corresponding to a displacement between 25,540 and 33,530 tonnes (25,140 and 33,000 long tons).

The ship has a nuclear-turbo-electric powertrain. The onboard nuclear power plant consists of two 175 MWt RITM-200 pressurized water reactors fueled by up to 20% enriched Uranium-235 and two 36 MWe turbogenerators. The propulsion system follows the classic polar icebreaker pattern with three 6.2-metre (20 ft) four-bladed propellers driven by 20-megawatt (27,000 hp) electric motors.

With a total propulsion power of 60 megawatts (80,000 hp), Ural is designed to be capable of breaking 2.8 metres (9 ft) thick level ice at a continuous speed of 1.5–2 knots (2.8–3.7 km/h; 1.7–2.3 mph) at full power when operating in deep water at design draught.