The government will allocate 98.6 billion rubles for the construction of the first nuclear icebreaker at Zvezda

 

It is planned to allocate 98.6 billion rubles from the country’s budget to create the first nuclear icebreaker “Leader”, which will build the Zvezda shipyard in Bolshoy Kamne. Rosneft agreed in 2019 to advance 3.5 billion rubles for the zero stage of creating design documentation, and the Ministry of industry and trade will allocate 950 million rubles for R & d on the icebreaker’s electric propulsion system, Kommersant writes.

The report of the head of Rosatom Alexey Likhachev to the government on October 3 States that, according to calculations of an interdepartmental working group chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, the nuclear icebreaker Leader is estimated at 98.6 billion rubles without VAT. In total, it is planned to build three such icebreakers at the Zvezda shipyard in the far East.

The contract for the first vessel must be signed no later than December 2019, the laying will take place no later than February 2020, and delivery – in 2027, the construction will be entirely carried out at the expense of the budget. The laying of the next two icebreakers is planned for 2023, but their sources of funding have not been determined.

But even for the first “Leader” budget funding is expected only from 2020. To keep up with the bookmark, Rosneft (a key member of the Zvezda shipyard consortium) will give the shipyard an advance of 3.5 billion rubles without VAT for the zero stage of the icebreaker’s working design documentation. The advance will later be reimbursed to the shipyard from the budget. The development of documentation includes the completion of the creation of the RITM-400 reactor plant,including the development of the core.

The Ministry of industry and trade should allocate 950 million rubles in 2018-2020 for the development of the icebreaker’s electric propulsion system. The competition for the corresponding works will be announced in October as part of the state program for the development of shipbuilding, execution of works – 2020.

Zvezda is to sign a contract for the development of documentation with the iceberg Central Bank in the first quarter of 2019. According to Kommersant, the cost of the head icebreaker, including all expenses of 115 billion rubles, serial-10% cheaper.

Leader with a capacity of 120 MW should become the only icebreaker in the world for year-round navigation of vessels along the Northern sea route, cargo traffic on which should reach 80 million tons by 2024. The icebreaker will be able to overcome ice up to 4.3 m thick, lay a corridor up to 50 m wide and conduct caravans at a speed of 10-12 knots.

 

Source: https://www.newsvl.ru/society/2018/10/15/174615/#ixzz5TyvNrjSa