Photo:Pavel Bednyakov/POOL/TASS
ST. PETERSBURG, 26 January /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has given the go-ahead to start construction of the Leningrad nuclear icebreaker. The keel-laying ceremony of the fifth-generation universal nuclear icebreaker, which is part of the 22220 project, took place at the Baltic Shipyard. In addition to the president, Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev, VTB chief Andrei Kostin, Federation Council chairwoman Valentina Matviyenko and St Petersburg governor Alexander Beglov were present.
"I ask you for permission to install a tonnage plate on the first compartment of the future nuclear icebreaker Leningrad," Andrei Kostin, chairman of the board of directors of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, told Putin.
"So be it," Putin replied.
On the instructions of the head of state, they took screwdrivers and tightened the screws securing the tonnage plate to the first section of the future icebreaker.
About Icebreakers
The nuclear icebreaker Leningrad will be 173.3 m long and 34 m wide. The ship has a height of 52 m, a design waterline draft of 10.5 m, a minimum operating draft of 9.2 m in height and a displacement of 33,540 tonnes.
This icebreaker is designed to last 40 years. The ship's crew consists of 52 people.
The nuclear-powered ship is equipped with a two-reactor power plant with a main steam source from the 175 MW RITM-200 reactor. Project 22220 icebreakers are the largest and most powerful (60 MW) nuclear icebreakers in the world.
TASS/gnews.cz-JaV_07
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