Two RITM-200 reactors have been loaded onto nuclear-powered icebreaker Ural, second serial ship of Project 22220, by specialists of Baltiysky Zavod shipyard (United Shipbuilding Corporation) and Spetstyazhavtotrans, says press center of the shipbuilding company.
For the first time this operation was performed on the stocks. Earlier operations of this kind were performed by a floating crane onto a ship placed at a fitting-out quay.
Baltiysky Zavod says this method offers new technological opportunities for installation of reactor plants, reduces the period and cost of fitting out.
RITM-200 is a two-reactor plant developed by Afrikantov OKBM specially for the icebreaking fleet. Each reactor has a heat rate of 175 MW. RITM-200 reactor design features energy-efficient integrated layout, which enables the placement of the main equipment directly inside the steam generating unit's casing. Similar reactors were earlier installed on nuclear-powered icebreakers Arktika and Sibir.
Saint-Petersburg based Baltiysky Zavod shipyard is building three duel-draft 60MW icebreakers of Project 22220 (Arktika, Sibir, Ural). LK-60 icebreakers will be able to escort convoys of ships in the Arctic, breaking through ice of up to 3 meters thick.
General characteristics of 22220 Project vessels: capacity - 60 MW, operational speed - 22 knots (clean water), length - 173.3 m (160 m, DWL), beam - 34 m (33 m, DWL), depth - 15.2 m; draft (DWL) - 10.5 m; minimum draft - 8.55 m, maximum icebreaking capability - 2.8-meter-thick ice (at full capacity and speed of 1.5-2 knots); full displacement – 33,540 tonnes; designated service life - 40 years, crew - 75.
Baltiysky Zavod Shipyard (Baltic Shipyard) established in 1856 is based in Saint-Petersburg and specializes in the construction of Rank 1 surface crafts, ice class vessels with nuclear and diesel-electric propulsion systems, nuclear floating energy units, floating distilling plants. Baltic Shipyard had built over 600 ships and vessels. The company employs more than 6,000 people.
United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC OJSC) is the largest shipbuilding company in Russia. It was set up in 2007 with 100% federal ownership. The holding comprises 40 companies and organizations (major shipbuilding and shiprepairing companies as well as leading design bureaus). Currently, USC consolidates the bulk of the domestic shipbuilding complex. The Russian market is the main focus of the state corporation though it also exports its products to 20 countries worldwide.