General, Research, Technology

Why is the Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker Sevmorput stuck in Spanish waters?

Back in 1967, almost in the center of thethe southern continent on our planet, the Russian research station "Vostok" was founded. Located in the coldest place on Earth - it was here that the lowest temperature in the history of ground-based observations was recorded - minus 89.2 degrees Celsius - “Vostok” was gradually declining. Today, experts estimate the depreciation of the station's equipment and infrastructure at 90%, besides, the building is sinking deeper and deeper into the snow. As the closure of Vostok could put an end to critical scientific research, the government signed a decree in 2019 to build a new research facility in Antarctica. The assembly of the new module of the research station took place in Gatchina, not far from St. Petersburg, and on December 1, 2020, the world's only nuclear icebreaker "Sevmorput" was supposed to deliver new modules to the coast of Antarctica. However, due to a sudden breakdown, the icebreaker got stuck in Spanish waters.

The nuclear-powered container ship "Sevmorput" is the only icebreaker-transport vessel in Russia with a nuclear power plant.

Research Station "Vostok"

Research Station "Vostok",located in the heart of the continental Antarctica, consists of several modules. Like the facilities of the American Amundsen-Scott station located nearby, the bulk of Vostok's modules were almost completely submerged under the snow, and its equipment and infrastructure had long ago deteriorated.

The main goal of researchers working in suchextreme conditions consists in collecting data on the ancient climate on Earth - it can be judged by the characteristics of people. In addition, work is underway at the station to study the relict subglacial lake, which is called Vostok.

But how to do scientific research when most of the station is under snow, and the old buildings are not at all suitable for living? Also the station has no running water or sewerage - water has to be extracted from cubes of snow, which researchers melt in special containers.

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Vostok is located 3.5 kilometers above sea level. Today, only the modules built in the 1980s of the last century have not gone under the snow.

The new station, the construction of which wasapproved in 2019, should radically change the situation and positively affect the research process. But the construction of a new station is not an easy task: first, it is necessary to somehow deliver building materials to the continent, or rather a new wintering complex, designed to accommodate 35 polar explorers. According to N + 1, the living area of ​​the new station will be about 1.5 thousand square meters, 35 people will be able to live there in the summer, and 15 of them will be able to stay for the winter.

After the employees of the Gatchina Experimentalof the building structures plant completed the assembly of the new complex of the R / V Vostok, the station modules were loaded aboard the world's only nuclear icebreaker named Sevmorput. This unique cargo ship is 260 meters long and 32 meters wide. The ship set off in October 2020, but the icebreaker could not reach Antarctica.

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Icebreaker "Sevmorput" - what you need to know?

Russian container lighter carrier "Sevmorput"- the only civilian transport vessel in the world with a nuclear reactor on board, which was built at the Kerch shipyard named after B.E. Butoma in the period from 1982 to 1988. Since its commissioning, the nuclear-powered container ship has covered 302,000 miles, transported more than 1.5 million tons of cargo, and during this time just one recharge of a nuclear reactor.

As indicated on the official website of Rosatom Flot,“The ship is capable of sailing independently in continuous flat ice fields up to 1 meter thick at a speed of about two knots. The ship's hull is divided by 11 transverse watertight bulkheads into 12 compartments, including 6 cargo holds. "

Now the Russian nuclear icebreaker is on its way to St. Petersburg. His arrival in the city should take place on December 31.

The increased attention of the world community to the Russian container ship is understandable - the Sevmorput contains 150 kilograms of enriched uranium fuel.

Despite the fact that the age of the icebreaker exceedsthree decades, at the beginning of this decade it was decided that he would continue his work. However, on October 18, passing by Africa, "Sevmorput" lost one of the four main rotor blades and was forced to stop in the Gulf of Luanda. The breakdown was so serious that the planned trip to Antarctica had to be canceled, and the ship was turned back to St. Petersburg.

The new wintering module of the Vostok research station looks like this.

Meanwhile, the breakdown of the nuclear icebreaker involvedattention of the whole world. Still - just imagine how a more serious breakdown can turn out. A spokesman for Rosatom assured journalists of the Spanish El Pais (in whose waters the Russian ship happened to get stuck) that "the ship is navigable, and the nuclear power unit is operating normally."

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For its part, the Nuclear Security CouncilSpain (SNB) consulted with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the vessel. Fortunately, the news for today is good - no reports of incidents related to the nuclear reactor driving the Sevmorput have been registered. I would like to note that on the way to St. Petersburg, the vessel will have to overcome the Bay of Biscay, the Calais Strait, the North Sea, and in total waters of 14 European countries.