Russia's nuclear icebreaker fleet is the only one in the world.
Russia has the world's only nuclear-powered icebreaking fleet, designed to solve the problems of ensuring a national presence in the Arctic based on the use of advanced nuclear achievements. With its appearance, the real development of the Far North began.
The main activities of Rosatomflot (an enterprise of Rosatom State Corporation) are:
- icebreaking support for escorting vessels in the waters of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) to freezing ports of the Russian Federation;
- ensuring the conduct of high-latitude research expeditions;
- provision of rescue operations in ice in the waters of the NSR and non-Arctic freezing seas;
- performance of maintenance and repair work for general and special purposes both for own needs and for third-party shipowners;
- participation in the performance of works on environmental rehabilitation of the North-West region of Russia;
- implementation of tourist cruises to the North Pole, islands and archipelagos of the Central Arctic.
Due to the peculiarities of propulsion systems, one of the technical tasks is to ensure the safe handling of nuclear materials and radioactive waste.
The history of the domestic nuclear icebreaker fleet dates back to December 3, 1959. On this day, the world's first nuclear-powered icebreaker "Lenin" was put into operation. Only with the advent of the nuclear icebreaker fleet in the 70s of the XX century, the Northern Sea Route began to take shape as a national transport artery in the Arctic. The commissioning of the nuclear icebreaker Arktika opened year-round navigation in the western sector of the Arctic. At this stage in the development of the NSR, the formation of the Norilsk industrial region and the appearance of the year-round port of Dudinka on the route played a key role. Then the icebreakers Sibir, Rossiya, Sovetsky Soyuz, Taimyr, Vaigach, Yamal, and 50 Years of Victory were built. Their construction and operation predetermined Russia's technological advantages in nuclear shipbuilding for decades.