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The Russian Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreaker Arktika may be delayed once again.
Kommersant reported, citing its own sources, that during mooring tests, a propeller motor on the right shaft failed due to a short circuit.
The causes of the breakdown and recommendations for the restoration of the engine should be determined by the Baltzavod commission by February 20th.
The Arktika is the lead nuclear-powered icebreaker in its class, with a capacity of 60 MW, a rowing electric motor on the right shaft failed.
As described in documentation of which Kommersant has a copy, on February 4th, during the commissioning of the electric propulsion system, when the voltage from the frequency converter was applied to the right rowing electric motor, the protection tripped and the frequency converter failed.
A short circuit in the rowing electric motor was detected, the winding was damaged.
In accordance with the order of the plant’s general director Alexei Kadilov, a commission was formed, headed by the chief constructor of the ships, Kirill Myadzuta, which should establish the causes of the incident and make recommendations for restoration by February 20th.
The contract for the construction of the leading nuclear icebreaker “Arktika” at the Baltzavod, which is a part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), was concluded in 2012.
The price of the icebreaker is approximately $581 million (37 billion rubles). The Arktika was supposed to be commissioned at the end of 2017, but in the summer of 2017, the decree of the President of the Russian Federation postponed it to May 2019.
Then, the deadlines were postponed for at least another year, and the icebreaker’s transfer was planned after the ice tests in May 2020.
In addition to the Arktika, Baltzavod is to build four more serial Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreakers.
On December 12th, the Arktika began sea trials with a diesel generator, contrary to the usual routine. Alexei Kadilov explained this by the large number of alterations during the construction of a standard power plant.
The deputy head of Rosatom, the head of the Northern Sea Route directorate, Vyacheslav Ruksha, said in an interview with Kommersant that the launch of the power supply unit is planned for February, and in mid-March the icebreaker to complete sea trials on high-speed modes, and in April to go to Murmansk for ice tests.
The USC said that a special commission was investigating the outcome of the incident with the right rowing electric motor and that it was premature to draw any conclusions.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade confirmed that a decision on the situation will be made based on the commission’s findings.
The Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreaker has a displacement of 33,540 tons, a length of 173.3 meters and beam of 34 m, its height is 51.25 m.
It has two RITM-200 nuclear reactors, two turbogenerators for power. Its propulsion is nuclear-turbo-electric, with three shafts, 20 MW each. It can reach a maximum speed of 22 knots.
Its crew is comprised of 74 people.
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Well, no big deal, the icebergs are not going anywhere and may melt anyway, Russia has bigger fish to fry these days :)
The ice in the Arctic and Antarctic is actually increasing. This year, faster than over the last decade. If global warming was melting the Arctic, Russia would need less, not more icebreakers of ever larger proportions. The extra icebreakers will be needed to ensure a route to the new gas and oil fields that Russian companies are looking to establish.
we are wqaiting for tudor mron and his laudative words