The manufacture of the first RITM-400 reactor unit for the Rossiya nuclear icebreaker, which will become the most powerful nuclear-powered vessel in the world, has been completed at ZiO-Podolsk (part of Rosatom’s mechanical engineering division). Valentina Matvienko, Chairwoman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federal Assembly (upper chamber of parliament), and Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, attended the ceremony marking completion of the RITM-400.
Rossiya, the lead icebreaker of the project 10510 new generation, of nuclear icebreakers, will be equipped with two RITM-400 reactor plants. The ship is being built in the Far East and after commissioning will enable year-round use of the North Sea Route by commercial shipping. The RITM-400 is an evolutionary development of RITM-200 with an increase in thermal power up to 315 MWt.
Rosatom has extensive experience in manufacturing RITM series reactor plants. To date it has manufactured and delivered 10 RITM-200 reactors for the project 22220 icebreakers – Arktika, Ural, Siberia, Yakutia and Chukotka, eight of which have already proven their performance in operation. At the enterprises of Rosatom’s Engineering Division another 10 RITM series reactor units are at different stages manufactured by for icebreaker fleet and for floating and land-based small reactor projects.
“Today we have completed the production of the first RITM-400 for the icebreaker Rossiya, and in a couple of months we will finish the second one,” said Igor Kotov, Head of Rosatom’s Engineering Division. Both installations will be sent to the shipyard for installation on the Rossiya nuclear-powered vessel and will be a gift from Rosatom’s engineers for the 80th anniversary of the nuclear industry. The completion of this project opens up new opportunities in the development of the Northern Sea Route.”
Likhachev said completion of the RITM-400 reactor “is a significant event for the icebreaker fleet, for Rosatom, and for our entire country”. He added: “The reactor installations of the next-generation nuclear icebreaker Rossiya will make it possible to plough through ice more than four metres thick [the RITM-200 can manage three metres]. We decided to give each of the two reactors, which will give the nuclear-powered vessel unprecedented power, the names of Russian heroes Ilya Muromets and Dobrynya Nikitich. These epic heroes performed heroic deeds in the name of Russia, and the new reactors named after them will help the icebreaker Rossiya conquer the harsh Arctic ice.”
