''Yakutiya'' (russian: Якутия) is a Russian

Project 22220 Project 22220, also known through the Russian type size series designation LK-60Ya,The type size series designation "LK-60Ya" (russian: ЛК-60Я) comes from the Russian language word for "icebreaker" (russian: text=ледокол, translit=led ...

nuclear-powered icebreaker A nuclear-powered icebreaker is an icebreaker with an Nuclear marine propulsion, onboard nuclear power plant that produces power for the vessel's propulsion system. , Russia is the only country that builds and operates nuclear-powered icebreakers ...

currently under construction at

Baltic Shipyard The OJSC Baltic Shipyard (''Baltiysky Zavod'', formerly Shipyard 189 named after Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze) (russian: Балтийский завод имени С. Орджоникидзе) is one of the oldest shipyards in Russia and is part of ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Development and construction

Background

In the late 1980s, the Russian research institutes and design bureaus developed a successor for the 1970s ''Arktika''-class nuclear-powered icebreakers as part of a wider icebreaker fleet renewal program initiated shortly after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

. The new 60-megawatt icebreaker, referred to using a type size series designation LK-60Ya,The type size series designation "LK-60Ya" (russian: ЛК-60Я) comes from the

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

word for "icebreaker" (russian: text=ледокол, translit=ledokol), propulsion power (60 megawatts), and the first letter of the Russian word for "nuclear" (russian: text=ядерное, translit=yadernoye). would feature a so-called dual-draft functionality which would allow the vessel to operate in shallow coastal areas after de-ballasting. Although the preliminary designs had been developed almost two decades earlier, the LK-60Ya design was finalized in 2009 as Project 22220 by

Central Design Bureau "Iceberg" Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

and the construction of the first vessel was awarded to

-based

in August 2012. Two additional contracts in May 2014 and August 2019 have increased the number of Project 22220 icebreakers under construction or on order to five. , Russian government reportedly plans to allocate 118 billion rubles for the construction of two additional Project 22220 icebreakers that would be delivered in 2028 and 2029.

Construction

On 23 August 2019,

FSUE Atomflot FSUE Atomflot (russian: ФГУП «Атомфлот») is a Russian company and service base that maintains the world's only fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers. Atomflot is part of the Rosatom group, and is based in the city of Murmansk. , the ...

signed a contract worth over 100 billion

rubles The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...

(about US$1.5 billion) for the construction of two additional Project 22220 icebreakers with

. As before, the

-based shipyard was the only bidder for the construction of the nuclear-powered icebreakers. The keel of the fourth Project 22220 icebreaker was laid on 26 May 2020 and the vessel was launched on 22 November 2022. The icebreaker, named ''Yakutiya'' (russian: Якутия) after the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is scheduled to be delivered by December 2024.

Design

''Yakutiya'' is

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

and has a maximum

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of . 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 by taking in and discharging

ballast water Ballast is used in ships to provide moment to resist the lateral forces on the hull. Insufficiently ballasted boats tend to tip or heel excessively in high winds. Too much heel may result in the vessel capsizing. If a sailing vessel needs to vo ...

, corresponding to a displacement between . ''Yakutiya'' has a nuclear-turbo-electric powertrain. The onboard nuclear power plant consists of two 175

RITM-200 The RITM-200 is an integrated generation 3+ pressurized water reactor developed by OKBM Afrikantov and designed to produce 55 MWe. The design is an improvement of KLT-40 reactor. It uses up to 20% enriched uranium-235 and can be refueled every 10 ...

pressurized water reactor A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water reactor, light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan and Canada). In a PWR, the primary ...

s fueled by up to 20% enriched

Uranium-235 Uranium-235 (235U or U-235) is an isotope of uranium making up about 0.72% of natural uranium. Unlike the predominant isotope uranium-238, it is fissile, i.e., it can sustain a nuclear chain reaction. It is the only fissile isotope that exis ...

and two 36

turbogenerator A turbo generator is an electric generator connected to the shaft of a steam turbine or gas turbine for the generation of electric power. Large steam-powered turbo generators provide the majority of the world's electricity and are also use ...

s. The propulsion system follows the classic polar icebreaker pattern with three four-bladed propellers driven by electric motors. With a total propulsion power of , ''Yakutiya'' is designed to be capable of breaking thick level ice at a continuous speed of at full power when operating in deep water at design draught.

Notes

References

{{Nuclear surface ships Project 22220 icebreakers 2022 ships