Moscow engineers Kirill Gotovtsev and Yuri Oshev have patented an electric power plant for electric propulsion vessels, designed to operate in ice conditions. The system uses an adjustable ballast load, which absorbs excess electrical power during sudden changes in propeller load.

The problem arises when moving in heavy ice in bursts, when the icebreaker alternately moves forward and backward. During propeller reversal, the power consumed by them can decrease from the nominal value to zero. In a conventional scheme, such a change in load affects the power of the energy source, which for a nuclear plant is accompanied by thermal instability of the core. 

The authors propose connecting a separate adjustable ballast load in parallel with the electric power conversion units for the propulsion motors. It should absorb the released power when the consumption of the propulsion electric motors decreases, thereby maintaining a balance between electricity generation and consumption. 

According to the concept, when the icebreaker's mode changes, the control system switches a set of load resistors. Due to this, the power consumed by the ballast changes in accordance with the load on the propulsion electric motors. As a result, it is proposed to maintain the operating mode of the generator, turbine, and nuclear reactor without significant changes. 

But the energy is not lost. The power resistors are cooled by an air flow, which is then directed to the pneumatic flushing device of the underwater part of the hull. At peak load, the air temperature can exceed 100 °C. To smooth out temperature changes before feeding into the system, a thermal storage unit is provided. 

The pneumatic flushing device supplies air through openings in the underwater part of the vessel's bow. The rising flow forms an air-water layer between the hull and the ice, removes small debris, washes away ice chips, and reduces the hull's resistance to movement. According to the patent's design logic, using already heated air allows simultaneously utilizing ballast load losses and increasing the efficiency of pneumatic flushing. 

As resistive elements, the authors propose using lanthanum chromite ceramic LaCrO₃. The ballast load must have sufficient power to compensate for the consumption of the entire electric propulsion system of the corresponding side in extreme modes, including reversal or propeller jamming.