World's Most Powerful Nuclear Icebreaker Ship Starts Nuclear Reactor

The reactor of the "Arctica" nuclear icebreaker ship has been launched in Russia. It is the most powerful nuclear reactor mounted on any ship in the world. According to the Russian side, the test has been successful.

The reactor was activated at minimum power, as this is sufficient to check its functionality. Following this, it will be tested at an "energetic" level, and subsequently during the ship's voyage.

The thermal power of the nuclear reactor is 175 megawatts. For comparison, the same characteristic at the Metsamor nuclear power plant is 1375 megawatts. This means that the reactor mounted on the ship is only 8 times less powerful than a stationary nuclear power plant.

As for the ship itself, it is designed to open routes for other vessels in Arctic ice-covered seas by breaking through the ice. This ship is capable of breaking ice fields up to 2.8-2.9 meters thick.