Russian Nuclear-Powered Icebreaker with Two Reactors in the Works

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RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED 08.08.2014

A new range of Russian nuclear-powered icebreakers will to have two reactors, Vyacheslav Ruksha, the director general of Rosatomflot, told RIA Novosti Thursday.

The new icebreakers “will meet the highest standards of the shipping industry. The icebreaker will have a crew of 50-60 people, which means it will require two reactors,” Ruksha said.

The director general added that the new icebreakers will be able to facilitate the navigation of ships with deadweight tonnage of 100,000 and beams of 44-50 meters (144-164 feet) from Cape Zhelaniya to the Bering Strait. The ice in the area can be up to three meters thick, and the new icebreakers are expected to clear paths about 50 meters wide.

“The important thing will be to understand how big the demand for these icebreakers is,” the director general said. The price of one new icebreaker should not exceed $2 billion.

Rosatomflot was established to provide technological services to and maintenance of nuclear-powered marine icebreakers. In 2008 Rosatomflot joined State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, becoming a unified icebreaking and maintenance complex for Russia’s civil nuclear-powered fleet.

Topics: Nuclear ships, Russia

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