The reactor vessels for Russia's largest icebreaker yet, the Leader, are being made. The vessel will use two RITM-400 reactors for a propeller power of 120 MW, which is twice that of the newest icebreakers currently at sea.

How Leader will look at sea (Image: Rosatom)

Leader will be the first of Russia's 'Project 10510' icebreakers. With unprecedented size and power Leader, and two subsequent Project 10510 icebreakers, will be able to penetrate ice up to 4.3 metres thick and clear a channel up to 50 metres wide. Their main purpose will be to maintain passibility of the Northern Sea Route, the development of which is a Russian national priority.

The RITM-400 is a development of the RITM-200 reactor design which already has variants for icebreakers, floating power plants and for use on land. As a scaled up model, RITM-400 produces 315 MWt compared with RITM-200's 165 MWt, but uses the same technologies. Atomenergomash said it "surpasses all available marine reactor units."

Aboard the Leader, its two reactors are placed side-by-side in the centre of the ship. Their thermal energy will be converted to electricity by a steam turbine by four 35 MWe generators. This is transmitted to four 30 MW motors to drive its propellers with a total power of 120 MW, which is twice as much as the latest icebreaker to be launched, Sibir.

One of Leader's reactor vessels being manufactured (Image: Atomenergomash)

The Leader itself is being built at the Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex, near Vladivostok. It should be brought into service in 2027. Two more Project 10510 icebreakers were announced by a Presidential decree in October 2020, but they have yet to be named.

The RITM series of small reactors is designed by OKBM Afrikantov, a Rosatom subsidiary. The reactor vessels are being manufactured by another subsidiary, Atomenergomash.

Atomenergomash noted that it "plans to start developing a technical project" on an optimised floating nuclear power plant using RITM-400 units.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News