Nikolay Scherbina, professor of Nuclear Power Plants Department of Naval Engineering Institute

– Russia must enhance the capacities of its nuclear icebreaking fleet

Day of Nuclear Icebreaking Fleet was marked in Murmansk on Dec 3 2008. 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.

I still have my university-time notes on hydromechanics saying that “Lenin” icebreaker sailed out of Neva River on Oct 15 1959. 49 years have passed since then but this event is still unique as nobody else in the world has nuclear icebreaking fleet yet.

Russia must enhance the capacities of its nuclear icebreaking fleet as it is one of the countries having access to the Arctic Ocean. We have discovered lots of mineral resources in the north and we need icebreakers for their transportation. Each year from Sept till July certain part of the northern coast is ice-bound and we need icebreakers to supply this territory with food and other essentials and to enlarge our prospecting activities there.

For the moment we already have Shtokmanov gas deposit in the central part of the self of the Russian sector of the Barents Sea. We also have other northern territories needing icebreakers: Yamal, Taymyr, etc.

Rosatom’s present plans to develop our nuclear icebreaking fleet are aimed at replacing old icebreakers by new modern ones. We must have a specific plan of action so as to understand how much work we must do to fulfill our plans concerning the Northern Sea Route and the Arctic shelf.