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 Lenin docked atMurmansk | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Soviet Union | |
| Name | Lenin (Ленин) |
| Namesake | Vladimir Lenin |
| Builder | Admiralty Shipyards, Leningrad USSR[1] |
| Launched | 1957[1] |
| Completed | 1959 |
| In service | 1959–1989 |
| Identification | IMO number: 5206087 |
| Status | Preserved as amuseum ship |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 16,000 tonnes[2] |
| Length | 134 m (440 ft)[1][2] |
| Beam | 27.6 m (91 ft)[1][2] |
| Draught | 10.5 m (34 ft)[1] |
| Depth | 16.1 m (53 ft) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | Nuclear-turbo-electric, three shafts[1] |
| Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)[1] |
| Crew | 243 |
| Aviation facilities | Helipad |
Lenin (Russian:Ленин) is aSovietnuclear-powered icebreaker, the first nuclear-powered icebreaker in the world. Launched in 1957, it is both the world's firstnuclear-powered surface ship[2] and the firstnuclear-powered civilian vessel.Lenin entered operation in 1959 and worked clearing sea routes for cargo ships along Russia's northern coast. From 1960 to 1965 the ship covered over 157,000 kilometres (85,000 nautical miles) during the Arctic navigation season, of which almost 120,000 km (65,000 nmi) was through ice.[2] Nuclear power proved to be an ideal technology for a vessel working in such a remote area as it removed the need for regular replenishment of fuel. On 10 April 1974 the vessel was awarded theOrder of Lenin. It was officially decommissioned in 1989.[1] It was subsequently converted to a museum ship and is now permanently based atMurmansk.
When launched in 1957,Lenin was powered by threeOK-150 reactors. In its late-1960s configuration, at full capacity the ship used 2.5 to 3 kg (five to six pounds) ofuranium-235 per 100 days.[2]
In the configuration employed from 1970, twoOK-900 reactors provided steam for four steam turbines, that were in turn connected to generators, which powered three sets ofelectric motors to drive the ship's three propellers.[3]
In February 1965, there was aloss-of-coolant accident. After being shut down for refueling, the coolant was removed from the number two reactor before thespent fuel had been removed. As a result, some of the fuel elements melted and deformed inside the reactor. When the spent elements were being unloaded for storage and disposal, it was found that 124 fuel assemblies (about 60% of the total) were stuck in the reactor core. It was decided to remove the fuel, control grid, andcontrol rods as a unit for disposal; they were placed in a special cask, solidified, stored for two years, and dumped inTsivolki Bay (near theNovaya Zemlya archipelago) in 1967.[citation needed]
The second accident was a cooling system leak which occurred in 1967, shortly after refueling. Finding the leak required breaking through the concrete and metal biological shield withsledgehammers. Once the leak was found, it became apparent that the sledgehammer damage could not be repaired; subsequently, all three reactors were removed by blowing them off the ship with shaped charges above a burial site off Novaya Zemlya,[4] and replaced by two OK-900 reactors. This was completed in early 1970.[5]
Lenin was decommissioned in 1989, because its hull had worn thin from ice friction. She was laid up atAtomflot, a base for nuclear icebreakers inMurmansk, and repair and conversion into amuseum ship was completed in 2005.[6]
68°58′28.98″N33°3′32.21″E / 68.9747167°N 33.0589472°E /68.9747167; 33.0589472