Ural (icebreaker)
Ural () is a Russian Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreaker currently under construction at Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg. She was launched in 2019 and is scheduled to enter service in October 2022. 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 new 60-megawatt icebreaker, referred to using a type size series designation LK-60Ya, 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" and the construction of the first vessel was awarded to Saint Petersburg-based Baltic Shipyard 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. Construction. The tender for construction of two additional Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreakers, referred to as the first and  second serial vessels of the project, was announced at the keel laying ceremony of the lead ship "Arktika" on 5 November 2013. On 8 May 2014, the 84.4 billion ruble (about US$2.4 billion) contract for two vessels was awarded to the Saint Petersburg-based Baltic Shipyard which was the only company whose bid had been accepted. The keel of the third Project 22220 icebreaker was laid on 25 July 2016, shortly after the partially-assembled hull of the previous vessel, "Sibir", had been moved down the slipway for final hull assembly. Unlike in the previous two vessels, the RITM-200  nuclear reactors were lifted onboard the vessel while it was still on the slipway. By February 2019, the hull of the new icebreaker had been constructed up to the thick ice belt level, and the vessel was launched as "Ural" on 27 May 2019. The name had previously been selected for the final "Arktika"-class icebreaker when it was laid down in 1989, but during construction the vessel was renamed "50 Let Pobedy" (). Initially, the delivery of the third Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreaker was scheduled for 2020, but this has since been postponed to 2022 due to problems with the  delivery of the steam turbines from a domestic manufacturer. On 26 May 2020, "Ural"s level of technical readiness was reported to be 50%. In February 2021, there was a minor fire onboard the icebreaker. , "Ural" is scheduled to be delivered to Atomflot in October 2022. Design. "Ural" is long overall and has a maximum beam 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, corresponding to a displacement between . "Ural" has a nuclear -turbo-electric powertrain. The onboard nuclear power plant consists of two 175 RITM-200 pressurized water reactors fueled by up to 20% enriched Uranium-235 and two 36 turbogenerators. The propulsion system follows the classic polar icebreaker pattern with three four-bladed propellers driven by electric motors. With a total propulsion power of , "Ural" 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.