Development of the nuclear icebreaking fleet of Russia.
Nuclear power is the technological backbone of our country. Last year, the nuclear industry celebrated its 70th anniversary. On August 20, 1945, the Soviet leadership decided to create a number of organizational structures necessary for the development of the domestic nuclear industry.
Work on the development of the energy of the atomic nucleus was carried out in the USSR even before the Great Patriotic War. Then Soviet scientists achieved significant achievements, however, the war interrupted the research of Soviet atomic physicists. But soon the leadership of the country (thanks to intelligence data) became aware that work had begun in the United States and England on the use of atomic energy for military purposes.
Scientists again had to get down to business, hundreds of thousands of ordinary workers were supposed to provide the country with a "nuclear shield". As a result of painstaking work, on August 29, 1949, the first Soviet charge for the RDS-1 atomic bomb with a capacity of 20 kilotons of TNT was successfully tested at the Semipalatinsk test site. Thus, the US monopoly on the possession of atomic weapons was eliminated and the possibility of a unilateral military conflict with its use with impunity was prevented. In the future, the Soviet nuclear weapons complex was actively developed.
After the Great Patriotic War, even before its first nuclear test, the USSR began to actively develop a direction related to the peaceful use of atomic energy.
In 1948, at the suggestion of Igor Kurchatov, the country began the first work on the practical use of atomic energy to generate electricity. And in May 1950, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution "On research, design and experimental work on the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes." The main result of its implementation was the launch of the world's first nuclear power plant near the Obninskoye station. The station gave its first current on June 26, 1954.
In 1964, the first pressurized water power reactor VVER with a capacity of 210 MW was launched in the USSR at the Novovoronezh NPP. In 1973, the world's first power unit with a BN-350 fast neutron reactor was put into operation, which, in addition to generating electricity, provided heat for a desalination plant. In the same year, the first power unit with an RBMK reactor with a capacity of 1000 MW was launched at the Leningrad NPP.
Soviet nuclear scientists built nuclear power plants even abroad. But after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and then the collapse of the Soviet Union, the development of the nuclear industry slowed down. After a short stagnation, the recovery process began, but even here everything did not go so smoothly. Only in December 2007, in accordance with the decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the state corporation Rosatom was formed. This made it possible to create new conditions for the development of the Russian nuclear power industry and strengthen Russia's existing competitive advantages in this area.
Now Rosatom is the world leader in terms of the number of nuclear power units being simultaneously built abroad. Currently, Rosatom has guaranteed orders for 29 nuclear power units in Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. The possibility of building about 30 more blocks is being discussed. The state corporation also has the first place in terms of the number of NPP units being designed.
Many analysts believe that the inability of foreign companies to compete with Rosatom in the energy sector will increase Russia's international influence. Foreign experts also note the technological directions of the nuclear power industry of the future, where Russian specialists are now ahead of everyone else.
In addition, Russia is the owner of the world's only nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet. The decision to build the first nuclear icebreaker "Lenin" was made in 1953. The ship entered service in 1959. Now the construction of the lead nuclear icebreaker "Arktika" of project 22220 is underway. Its construction should be completed in 2017.
This essay is dedicated to the world's only nuclear icebreaker fleet. Issues such as the level of equipment of the nuclear icebreaker fleet of Russia, the history of its appearance and development, as well as prospects and plans will be considered.