During his visit to the Atomflot enterprise, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin got acquainted with the work of the Naval Operations Headquarters, which provides safe navigation support on the Northern Sea Route. Alexey Likhachev, CEO of Rosatom, reported on the possibilities of low-power nuclear generation. Sergey Zybko, General Director of Glavsevmorput, told the President about the work of the Headquarters.
Then, via video link, Vladimir Putin spoke with Alexander Scriabin, captain of the Arctic nuclear icebreaker. The nuclear-powered vessel was commissioned in October 2020 and named after the first ship in history to reach the North Pole on the surface.
"Vladimir Vladimirovich, all of us, the sailors of the icebreaking fleet, the shipbuilders of the Baltic Shipyard, and the shippers, see and feel your direct involvement in the development of the nuclear fleet, the Northern Sea Route, and the Arctic region as a whole. I can say with confidence that universal nuclear icebreakers are excellent vessels," said Alexander Scriabin.
As the head of state noted earlier, among the priorities is to strengthen the position of the icebreaking fleet, and to commission new–generation icebreakers, including nuclear-powered ones, which only Russia currently has.
So, four of them – the newest 22220 series – are already performing tasks in the Arctic. Three more nuclear–powered ships of this series are under construction - the Chukotka, Leningrad and Stalingrad, as well as the heavy-duty 120-megawatt icebreaker Rossiya, which will make it possible to more efficiently conduct large-tonnage vessels at high latitudes throughout the year.
In addition, on the territory of Atomflot, Vladimir Putin talked with participants of the Icebreakers of Knowledge, Rosatom's children's scientific and educational expeditions to the North Pole. Talented schoolchildren and students from different regions of the country shared their impressions of the expedition with the President and thanked him for the conditions created in the country for the self-realization and development of youth.
/ Ministry of Information Policy of the Murmansk Region /
Photo: The Government of the Russian Federation, kremlin.ru , Sergey Karpukhin, TASS