When your country is washed by one of the coldest seas on the planet, then most likely you will need icebreakers. And it is highly desirable that such vessels be nuclear-powered. At one time, the first nuclear-powered icebreaker was built in the Soviet Union. What is this ship, and could it survive the collapse of the previous country?
Three years and three months of development, more than 500 enterprises involved in the project, 76 fundamentally new technologies and mechanisms, created specifically for the nuclear icebreaker, over 150 samples of the latest ship equipment at that time, two years of state tests. All this is the first nuclear icebreaker "Lenin". The unique ship was handed over to the Ministry of the Navy in 1959, and already in 1961 the icebreaker took up duty.
The Lenin icebreaker was created solely for utilitarian reasons: it was supposed to help other Soviet ships pass through the northern waters. Since the icebreaker was the first of its kind, they did not save during its construction, not only on technology, but also on decoration. For its time, "Lenin" was decorated very expensively: leather, carvings, expensive fabrics and expensive woods in the decoration. With all its appearance from bow to stern, the icebreaker was supposed to embody the power and greatness of the Soviet system.
Nuclear fuel "Lenin" refueled once every 5 years. This was enough for constant trouble-free operation. The ship's record for the duration of the raid is 13 months. However, food and crew rotation at that time was still carried out from other ships. From 1961 to the present day, the nuclear icebreaker has had four captains. And on the icebreaker "Lenin" is the northernmost operating room on the planet. During the service, over 200 surgical operations were carried out in it right in the middle of the waters of the Arctic!
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During operation on the "Lenin" there were several accidents of the power plant. As a result, three reactors of the first generation were replaced by two more advanced ones. However, today there is no reactor on the ship at all. And all because it was removed from duty and turned into a museum ship. Officially, "Lenin" is an active non-self-propelled vessel. That is why the current team and the captain remain in his staff.
In continuation of the topic, read about 17 largest shipsever created by man.
Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/251221/61658/