Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker Ural undergoing sea trials.

MOSCOW, October 17. /TASS-DEFENSE/. The second serial Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreaker Ural being built on order of the Atomflot Company (part of the Rosatom state nuclear power corporation) is undergoing sea trials, the press office of the Baltic Shipyard (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) said.
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Nuclear-powered icebreaker Ural launched in St Petersburg, 2019 (Picture source: Petr Kovalev/TASS)

“On October 14, the second serial Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreaker Ural left the Baltic Shipyard’s outfitting quay and started its shipbuilders sea trials,” the press office said.

During the next three weeks, the shipbuilders and representatives of Atomflot will be checking the operation of the icebreaker’s mechanisms and equipment, in particular, the reactor and the steam turbine plant, the ship’s electric propulsion systems, shaft lines and deck mechanisms. The speed and maneuverability characteristics of the icebreaker, the functioning of general ship and automation systems will be tested. In addition, the ship’s navigation and communication systems, helicopter deck will be checked as well.

The Ural is the third Project 22220 icebreaker built by the Baltic Shipyard for the Atomflot Company. The Ural was laid down on July 25, 2016 and floated out on May 25, 2019. The ship is planned to be delivered to the customer by the yearend.

Project 22220 versatile nuclear-powered icebreakers are the largest and most powerful icebreakers in the world. Their main task is to provide year-round navigation in the Western region of the Arctic. Vessels of the type are expected to make up the mainstay of Russia’s civil icebreaking fleet in the imminent future.

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.

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