Yuri Simonov, chief engineer of ocean equipment project of A.Krylov Central Research Institute

– Nuclear icebreaking fleet is the basis of transportation along Northern Sea Route and future development of Arctic shelf

Day of Nuclear Icebreaking Fleet is being marked in Murmansk today, Dec 3. 49 years ago, on Dec 3, the world’s first nuclear icebreaker “Lenin” hoisted a national flag. Nine nuclear icebreakers of three generations and the world’s only nuclear powered lighter-aboard container carrier “Sevmorput” have been built in our country since then. Our nuclear icebreaking fleet is unique: no single country in the world has such capacities of work in icy area.

Our nuclear icebreaking fleet is the basis of transportation along the Northern Sea Route and future development of the Arctic shelf. At some moment, the traffic along the Northern Sea Route declined but that was compensated for by the start of the work to develop the Arctic shelf. Today, the importance of the fleet is growing.

We will need nuclear icebreakers when developing deposits in the Barents Sea, near Yamal in the Kara Sea and, certainly, for cargo deliveries to settlements on the shore of the Arctic Ocean.

Since most of our icebreakers are exhausting their resources, we will shortly need new ships. Presently, we are designing a universal nuclear icebreaker with a capacity of 60MW. It will be able to work in shallow areas like Taymyr and under normal conditions like Russia, 50 Years of Victory and Soviet Union. Thus, one project will meet both ends. The new ship will be able to break 2.9 m thick ice – this is the maximum capacity for the moment.

The ship will be very safe and efficient and will be able to navigate even in case of storm.

We hope that as soon as we finish this project we will be able to build the icebreakers at our plants.

I think that the new ships will boost demand for icebreakers. The state is taking very serious steps in this direction: it is reorganizing the management system, has established Atomflot and has placed it under the management of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation. I believe that this is the best way to organize effective navigation in the Arctic region.