Russia’s Rosatom, the state corporation responsible for managing the entirety of Russia’s nuclear energy compound, announced the assembly of the RITM-200 reactor vessel. This now makes the number of RITM reactors up to 8, a significant number to nuclear energy science. The ZIO-Podolsk plant is where these RITM reactors are being made, which is of course maintained by Rosatom. This specific RITM reactor is made for the new-generation icebreaker Leningrad. The ceremony of the Leningrad was held in 2024 and had the appearance of Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president. Some of these RITM reactors have powered their way through the harsh conditions of the Arctic. The icebreakers in service, mainly Arktika, Sibir, and Ural, already have the RITM reactors onboard. Each vessel has two reactors to power the ships. The Chukotka ship is currently in a construction phase with the Leningrad nuclear icebreakers of Project 22220.
These ships also play an important part in Russia’s plan to develop the shipping lane alongside its northern coast, known as the Northern Sea Route. Rosatom is responsible for the Northern Sea Route infrastructure plan. They are also responsible for the federal project of “Development of the Northern Sea Route.” The Northern Sea Route will cut the distance for transported goods to go by sea from Northern Europe to Asia. A huge 37.9 million tons of cargo were shipped, and 92 trips were made on the Northern Sea Route in 2024.
Rosatom says that the RITM-200 reactor is one of the most ahead of its time reactor units in the world, weighing half as much, taking up less space, and being lots more powerful. The RITM reactor has a thermal capacity of 175 MW and the lifetime of the reactor is up to 60 years. Rosatom is also developing a RITM-400, which is a pressurized water nuclear reactor with an expected power output of 80 to 90 MW.
Related Stories:
https://interestingengineering.com/energy/russia-nuclear-reactor-icebreaker-power
https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-o-s/russia-nuclear-power
https://hayadan.com/nuclear-plant-on-a-ship-2811079
