A submarine nuclear complex for drilling into ice-covered waters. This is the proposal put forward by the Rubin Design Bureau, Russia's largest nuclear-powered submarine design center.
Two thirds of all nuclear submarines in Soviet / Russian naval history, including the class Typhoon, have been designed by the Rubin Design Bureau. The nuclear reactor project involves the construction of a module able to guarantee a completely autonomous submarine complex, the extraction of hydrocarbon deposits in the Arctic seas with a massive concentration of ice.
Rubin has gained experience in prospecting and extracting oil and gas in the Arctic, with the creation of the platform Prirazlomnoye (pictured), currently operating in the eastern part of the Barents Sea. The indiscretions collected by TheBarentsObserver, speak of a 24 MW submarine reactor. It will have a life cycle of 200.000 hours (approximately 23 years of operation) and will be able to operate without human intervention for 8.000 hours or a year. A military technology, much lower in power than other nuclear-powered units. The two reactors on Russian nuclear-powered icebreakers are 171 MW. The reactor that powers the Akula it is of 190 MW, while the four reactors of the Kola nuclear power plant have an individual power of 440 MW.
The green light of the Russian government is expected, even if the project is strongly supported by the Ministry of Defense, Rosatom, Gazprom and United Shipbuilding Corporation.
The pilot project - add from Rubin to TheBarentsObserver - will be developed in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Development and included in Russia's economic development framework for the Arctic starting from 2025.
We ignore the total cost of the submarine reactor (unconfirmed estimates speak of over one hundred billion rubles) and the annexed structures. As a work carried out with state funding, all economic losses must be amortized. Although the idea of a submarine nuclear reactor is not new, there should not be anything like that officially.
It should be noted that Russia is building its first floating nuclear power plant, the Akademik Lomonosov, equipped with two 64 MW reactors. The control panel should be ready within the 2019. It will be operational in the Arctic city of Pevek, on the Chukotka peninsula.
In France, the DCNS industrial group has proposed the construction of small offshore nuclear power plants.
(photo: Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering "Rubin")
