Reactor Installations for Nuclear Icebreakers: Origination Experience and Current Status

OKBM Afrikantov has been developing power installations for the icebreaker fleet for more than 60 years. The first generation of reactor installations is represented by the OK-150 loop-type installation for the icebreaker Lenin. At the exhaustion of its operating life it was replaced by the second-generation OK-900 installation. The next stage of the origination of reactor installations for civilian ships became the development of KLT-40 and KLT-40M. Currently, owing to the growth of cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route, the nuclear icebreaker fleet must be enlarged. Both operating and new general-purpose nuclear icebreakers are planned for pilotage of freighters. The new reactor installation RITM-22 with improved metrics was developed for general-purpose icebreakers. The reactor installation RITM-400 was developed for Lidertype icebreakers and can be used in the future in other vessels as well as small nuclear power installations.