1.
Icebreaker
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An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels. For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most normal ships lack, a hull, an ice-clearing shape, and the power to push through sea ice. Icebreakers clear paths by pushing straight into ice pockets, the bending strength of sea ice is so low that usually the ice breaks without noticeable change in the vessels trim. In cases of very thick ice, an icebreaker can drive its bow onto the ice to break it under the weight of the ship, even in the earliest days of polar exploration, ice-strengthened ships were used. These were originally wooden and based on existing designs, but reinforced, particularly around the waterline with double planking to the hull, bands of iron were wrapped around the outside. Sometimes metal sheeting was placed at the bows, stern and along the keel, such strengthening was designed to help the ship push through ice and also to protect the ship in case it was nipped by the ice. Nipping occurs when ice floes around a ship are pushed against the ship, trapping it as if in a vise and this vise-like action is caused by the force of winds and tides on ice formations. Although such wind and tidal forces may be exerted many miles away, the first boats to be used in the polar waters were those of the indigenous Arctic people. Their kayaks are small human-powered boats with a deck, and one or more cockpits. Such boats, of course, have no icebreaking capabilities, but they are light, in the 9th and 10th centuries, the Viking expansion reached the North Atlantic, and eventually Greenland and Svalbard in the Arctic. Vikings, however, operated their ships in the waters that were ice-free for most of the year, in the 11th century, in North-Russia started settling the coasts of the White Sea, named so for being ice-covered for over half of a year. The mixed ethnic group of the Karelians and the Russians in the North-Russia that lived on the shores of the Arctic Ocean became known as Pomors. Gradually they developed a type of small one- or two-mast wooden sailing ships, used for voyages in the ice conditions of the Arctic seas. These earliest icebreakers were called kochi, the kochs hull was protected by a belt of ice-floe resistant flush skin-planking along the variable water-line, and had a false keel for on-ice portage. If a koch became squeezed by the ice-fields, its rounded bodylines below the water-line would allow for the ship to be pushed up out of the water, in the 19th century, similar protective measures were adopted to modern steam-powered icebreakers. Fram is said to be the ship to have sailed farthest north and farthest south. An early ship designed to operate in icy conditions was a 51-metre wooden paddle steamer,1, that was built for the city of Philadelphia by Vandusen & Birelyn in 1837
2.
Nuclear reactor
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This article is a subarticle of Nuclear power. A nuclear reactor, formerly known as a pile, is a device used to initiate. Nuclear reactors are used at power plants for electricity generation. Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a fluid, which runs through steam turbines. These either drive a ships propellers or turn electrical generators, Nuclear generated steam in principle can be used for industrial process heat or for district heating. Some reactors are used to produce isotopes for medical and industrial use, some are run only for research. As of April 2014, the IAEA reports there are 435 nuclear power reactors in operation, when a large fissile atomic nucleus such as uranium-235 or plutonium-239 absorbs a neutron, it may undergo nuclear fission. The heavy nucleus splits into two or more nuclei, releasing kinetic energy, gamma radiation, and free neutrons. A portion of neutrons may later be absorbed by other fissile atoms and trigger further fission events, which release more neutrons. This is known as a chain reaction. To control such a chain reaction, neutron poisons and neutron moderators can change the portion of neutrons that will go on to cause more fission. Nuclear reactors generally have automatic and manual systems to shut the fission reaction down if monitoring detects unsafe conditions, commonly-used moderators include regular water, solid graphite and heavy water. Some experimental types of reactor have used beryllium, and hydrocarbons have been suggested as another possibility, the reactor core generates heat in a number of ways, The kinetic energy of fission products is converted to thermal energy when these nuclei collide with nearby atoms. The reactor absorbs some of the rays produced during fission. Heat is produced by the decay of fission products and materials that have been activated by neutron absorption. This decay heat-source will remain for some even after the reactor is shut down. A kilogram of uranium-235 converted via nuclear processes releases approximately three times more energy than a kilogram of coal burned conventionally. A nuclear reactor coolant — usually water but sometimes a gas or a metal or molten salt — is circulated past the reactor core to absorb the heat that it generates
3.
Mil Mi-2
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The Mil Mi-2 is a small, lightly armored turbine-powered transport helicopter that could also provide close air support when armed with 57 mm rockets and a 23 mm cannon. The Mi-2 was produced exclusively in Poland, in the WSK PZL-Świdnik factory in Świdnik, the first production helicopter in the Soviet Union was the Mil Mi-1, modelled along the lines of the S-51 and Bristol Sycamore and flown by Mikhail Mils bureau in September 1948. During the 1950s it became evident, and confirmed by American and French development, S. P. Isotov developed the GTD-350 engine and Mil used two of these in the far superior Mi-2. The twin shaft-turbine engines used in the Mi-2 develop 40% more power than the Mi-1s piston engines, for half the engine weight. The Mi-2 fuselage was altered from its predecessor, with the engines mounted overhead. However, the dimensions remained similar. The Mil-built prototype first flew in the Soviet Union on 22 September 1961, the first Świdnik-built example flew on 4 November 1965. PZL-Świdnik produced a total of 5,497 helicopters, about a third for military users, the factory also developed fiberglass rotor blades, and developed the wide-body Mi-2M seating 10 passengers instead of eight. Most typical kits include four stretchers for air ambulance usage, or aerospraying or cropdusting applications, the Mi-2 was first introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1965. The Mi-2 is used by mainly former Soviet and Eastern Bloc countries, although it was purchased by Mexico. Most of the armed Mi-2 variants were used by Poland, some were also used by the former East Germany. North Korea still maintains an active fleet of Mi-2s. Mi-2A Mi-2B Upgraded export version for the Middle East, fitted with improved systems, mi-2Ch Chekla Chemical reconnaissance / smokescreen layer version. Mi-2D Przetacznik Aerial command post equipped with R-111 radio, mi-2P Passenger / cargo version, with accommodation for 6 passengers. Mi-2RM Sea rescue version equipped with winch for two people and dropped rafts. Mi-2Ro Reconnaissance version equipped with cameras, mi-2RS Padalec Chemical and biohazard reconnaissance version. Mi-2S Air ambulance version, equipped to carry four litters, plus an attendant, mi-2US Armed version fitted with a fixed 23mm NS-23 cannon,4 x 7, 62mm PKT machine gun pods and optional cabin PK machine gun. Mi-2URN Żmija Armed reconnaissance variant armed with a fixed 23mm NS-23 gun, optional 7, 62mm PK machine gun window-mounted
4.
Mil Mi-8
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The Mil Mi-8 is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union, and now produced by Russia. In addition to its most common role as a helicopter, the Mi-8 is also used as an airborne command post, armed gunship. Along with the related, more powerful Mil Mi-17, the Mi-8 is among the worlds most-produced helicopters, as of 2015, it is the third most common operational military aircraft in the world. Due to the position of the engine, this enabled Mikhail Mil to justify redesigning the front half of the aircraft around the single engine. The prototype, which was named V-8, was designed in 1958, powered by an AI-242,010 kW Soloviev turboshaft engine, the single engined V-8 prototype had its maiden flight in June 1961 and was first shown on Soviet Aviation Day parade in July 1961. During an official visit to the United States in September 1959, on Khrushchevs return, he ordered the creation of a similar helicopter, which was to be ready for the return visit by the American president, to save face. A luxury version of the Mi-4 was quickly created and Khrushchev took an inspection flight, however, it would be necessary to have a second engine for reliability. In May 1960, the order was given for Mikhail Mil to create his twin engine helicopter, the Sergei Isotov Design Bureau accepted the task of creating the engines. The second prototype flew in September 1961, the aircraft completed its factory based testing in February 1963. The fifth and final prototype was a production prototype for the passenger market. In November 1964, all joint testing had completed and the soviet government began mass production. Production started in the Kazan Production Plant, with the first aircraft completed by the end of 1965 and it was only then that the Soviet military rushed a troop-carrying variant of the Mil Mi-8 into production. By 1967, it had introduced into the Soviet Air Force as the Mi-8. There are numerous variants, including the Mi-8T, which, in addition to carrying 24 troops, is armed with rockets, the Mil Mi-17 export version is employed by around 20 countries, its equivalent in Russian service in the Mi-8M series. The only visible difference between the Mi-8 and Mi-17 is that the rotor is on the starboard side of the Mi-8. Also Mi-17 also has some improved armour plating for its crew, the naval Mil Mi-14 version is also derived from the Mi-8. The Mi-8 is constantly improving and the newest version still remains in production in 2016, the Mi-8 family of helicopters became the main Soviet and later Russian helicopter covering a large range of roles in both peace time and war time. Large fleets of Mi-8 and its derivatives are employed by military and civil operators
5.
Kamov Ka-27
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Variants include the Ka-29 assault transport, the Ka-28 downgraded export version, and the Ka-32 for civilian use. The helicopter was developed for ferrying and anti-submarine warfare, design work began in 1969 and the first prototype flew in 1973. It was intended to replace the decade-old Kamov Ka-25, and is similar in appearance to its due to the requirements of fitting in the same hangar space. Like other Kamov military helicopters it has coaxial rotors, removing the need for a tail rotor, Ka-32 variants, e. g. the Klimov-powered Ka-32A11BC, have been certified for commercial operations throughout the world, notably in Canada and Europe. A Russian Navy Ka-27 helicopter from the Russian Udaloy-class destroyer RS Severomorsk conducted interoperability deck landing training on board USS Mount Whitney on 22 July 2010, Ka-32A11BC multipurpose helicopters have been successfully operated in Portugal for over five years. In 2006, KAMOV JSC won the tender for the supply of Ka-32A11BC firefighting helicopters, to replace Aérospatiale SA-330 Pumas, the Ka-32A11BC features a high power-to-weight ratio and ease of handling, owing to its coaxial rotor design. The Ka-32A11BC may be equipped with the Bambi Bucket suspended fire-fighting system of up to five tons capacity, the service life has been extended to up to 32000 flight hours. Since the 1990s, China has purchased the Ka-28 export version, Ka-31 purchases were first revealed in 2010. It is believed that Chinese Ka-28s have been equipped with enhanced avionics compared to Ka-28s exported to other countries. In 2013, Russia tested the new Kamov Ka-27M with an electronically scanned array radar. The basis of the modernization of the Ka-27M is installed on the airborne radar with an active phased array antenna FH-A. This radar is part of the command and tactical system that combines several other systems, acoustic, magnetometric, signals intelligence. All the information on them is displayed on the display instrumentation, ka-32s are used for construction of transmission towers for overhead power lines, as it has somewhat higher lift capacity than the Vertol 107. In Canada, the Ka-32 is used for selective logging as it is able to lift selective species vertically, in August 2013, a Kamov Ka-32, C-GKHL operating in Bella Coola, Canada, experienced failure of one of its Klimov TV3-117BMA engines. Syrian Navy Ka-27s were used to bomb terrorist groups positions in Damascus during the ongoing Syrian War against terrorist groups, Ka-27PS Search and rescue helicopter, ASW equipment removed and winch fitted. Ka-27PV Armed version of the Ka-27PS, radar mounted under the fuselage and provides allround visibility in the search and detection of surface, air and ground targets. Serial upgrading to the level of combatant helicopters Ka-27M was planned to begin in 2014, until the end of 2016,46 Ka-27PLs planned to modernization, commissioned by the Russian Navy. The first 8 serial Ka-27M, transferred in December 2016, Ka-28 Export version of the Ka-27PL
6.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
7.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
8.
Nuclear-powered icebreaker
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A nuclear-powered icebreaker is a nuclear-powered ship purpose-built for use in waters covered with ice. The only country constructing nuclear-powered icebreakers is Russia, nuclear-powered icebreakers have been constructed by the USSR and later Russia primarily to aid shipping along the Northern Sea Route in the frozen Arctic waterways north of Siberia. During the winter, the ice along the Northern Sea Route varies in thickness from 1.2 to 2.0 metres, the ice in central parts of the Arctic Ocean is on average 2.5 metres thick. Nuclear-powered icebreakers can force through this ice at speeds up to 10 knots, in ice-free waters the maximum speed of the nuclear-powered icebreakers is as much as 21 knots. Other important ports include Dikson, Tiksi, and Pevek, of six Arktika-class icebreakers built in 1975–2007, four are currently in service. The icebreakers have also used for a number of scientific expeditions in the Arctic. On August 17,1977, Arktika was the first surface vessel in the world to reach the North Pole, since 1989, some icebreakers have been used for Arctic tourist cruises. In all, ten civilian nuclear-powered vessels have been built in the USSR, nine of these are icebreakers, and one is a container ship with an icebreaking bow. All six nuclear-powered icebreakers of the Arktika class have been built at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg, Vaigach and Taimyr were built at the Helsinki New Shipyard in Finland and then brought to Russia for installation of the reactors and turbogenerators. At its launch in 1957 the icebreaker NS Lenin was both the worlds first nuclear-powered surface ship and the first nuclear-powered civilian vessel, Lenin was put into ordinary operation in 1959. Lenin had two accidents, the first in 1965, and the second in 1967. The second accident resulted in one of the three OK-150 reactors being damaged beyond repair, all three reactors were removed, and replaced by two OK-900 reactors, the ship returned to service in 1970. The Lenin was taken out of operation in November 1989 and laid up at Atomflot, conversion to a museum ship was scheduled to be completed during 2005. Arktika class icebreakers are the bulk of the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet, since they have been built over a period of thirty years, ships of different classes vary among one another, thus specifications are listed as a range of values. In general, the ships are larger, faster. There is water ballast between the inner and outer hulls which can be shifted to aid icebreaking, icebreaking is also assisted by an air bubbling system which can deliver 24 m³/s of air from jets 9 m below the surface. Some ships have polymer coated hulls to reduce friction, Arktika-class ships can break ice while making way either forwards or backwards. Although they have two reactors, normally only one is used to power, with the other being maintained in a standby mode
9.
Murmansk Shipping Company
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Murmansk Shipping Company, often abbreviated as MSCO, is a Russian shipping company based in Murmansk. One of the shipping companies operating in Arctic Russia and northern Europe, as of 2014 the company has 303 vessels. The company runs a museum in Murmansk. The company was established in 1939 as the Murmansk State Dry-Cargo and Passenger Shipping Company and it specialised in arctic transportation, and by 1940 it had 37 vessels with a total deadweight of 112,200 tons. During World War II its carriers served as allied escorts and this is the only company in the world which uses nuclear-powered icebreakers and the only Russian shipping company which is active in the Arctic during all the seasons. It performs passenger as well as cargo navigation, in 1973, the Northern Fleet and the Murmansk Shipping Company commenced transporting spent nuclear fuel by barges to Murmansk, and then delivering it to Mayak by train. In 1977, one of its ships, the nuclear-powered icebreaker Arktika, the company was reorganized into the Joint Stock Company in 1993.5 million curies of liquid and solid radioactive waste in the Arctic Ocean between 1959 and 1991. In 1996 the Murmansk Shipping Company reported 3,100 fuel assemblies were stored on the service ship Lotta, the main operating facility of the company is at Atomflot, to the north of the city on the Murmansk Fjord. The base contains liquid and solid waste processing systems, warehouses for shipping supplies, the ships are maintained at the dry docks in Murmansk, and the Zvezdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk also makes repairs to the reactors of the nuclear-powered icebreakers. The Murmansk Shipping Company Museum on Volodarskogo Street in Murmansk, established in 1977, has a collection of artifacts related to its history. Among its displays are photographs of polar captains, ship bells, micro model replicas, marine equipment, with one dedicated entirely to icebreakers. As of 2014 the company has 303 vessels, with a deadweight of about 1.2 million tons
10.
Siberia
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Siberia is an extensive geographical region, and by the broadest definition is also known as North Asia. Siberia has historically been a part of Russia since the 17th century, the territory of Siberia extends eastwards from the Ural Mountains to the watershed between the Pacific and Arctic drainage basins. It stretches southwards from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan and to the borders of Mongolia. With an area of 13.1 million square kilometres, Siberia accounts for 77% of Russias land area and this is equivalent to an average population density of about 3 inhabitants per square kilometre, making Siberia one of the most sparsely populated regions on Earth. If it were a country by itself, it would still be the largest country in area, the origin of the name is unknown. Some sources say that Siberia originates from the Siberian Tatar word for sleeping land, another account sees the name as the ancient tribal ethnonym of the Sirtya, a folk, which spoke a language that later evolved into the Ugric languages. This ethnic group was assimilated to the Siberian Tatar people. The modern usage of the name was recorded in the Russian language after the Empires conquest of the Siberian Khanate, a further variant claims that the region was named after the Xibe people. The Polish historian Chycliczkowski has proposed that the name derives from the word for north. He said that the neighbouring Chinese, Arabs and Mongolians would not have known Russian and he suggests that the name is a combination of two words, su and bir. The region is of significance, as it contains bodies of prehistoric animals from the Pleistocene Epoch. Specimens of Goldfuss cave lion cubs, Yuka and another woolly mammoth from Oymyakon, a rhinoceros from the Kolyma River. The Siberian Traps were formed by one of the largest known volcanic events of the last 500 million years of Earths geological history. They continued for a million years and are considered a cause of the Great Dying about 250 million years ago. At least three species of human lived in Southern Siberia around 40,000 years ago, H. sapiens, H. neanderthalensis, the last was determined in 2010, by DNA evidence, to be a new species. Siberia was inhabited by different groups of such as the Enets, the Nenets, the Huns, the Scythians. The Khan of Sibir in the vicinity of modern Tobolsk was known as a prominent figure who endorsed Kubrat as Khagan of Old Great Bulgaria in 630, the Mongols conquered a large part of this area early in the 13th century. With the breakup of the Golden Horde, the autonomous Khanate of Sibir was established in the late 15th century, turkic-speaking Yakut migrated north from the Lake Baikal region under pressure from the Mongol tribes during the 13th to 15th century
11.
Arctic
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The Arctic is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Alaska, Canada, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, land within the Arctic region has seasonally varying snow and ice cover, with predominantly treeless permafrost-containing tundra. Arctic seas contain seasonal sea ice in many places, the Arctic region is a unique area among Earths ecosystems. For example, the cultures in the region and the Arctic indigenous peoples have adapted to its cold, in recent years, Arctic sea ice decline has been caused by global warming. Life in the Arctic includes organisms living in the ice, zooplankton and phytoplankton, fish and marine mammals, birds, land animals, plants, Arctic land is bordered by the subarctic. The word Arctic comes from the Greek word ἀρκτικός, near the Bear, northern, there are a number of definitions of what area is contained within the Arctic. The area can be defined as north of the Arctic Circle, the southern limit of the midnight sun. The Arctics climate is characterized by cold winters and cool summers and its precipitation mostly comes in the form of snow and is low, with most of the area receiving less than 50 cm. High winds often stir up snow, creating the illusion of continuous snowfall, average winter temperatures can be as low as −40 °C, and the coldest recorded temperature is approximately −68 °C. Coastal Arctic climates are moderated by oceanic influences, having generally warmer temperatures, the Arctic is affected by current global warming, leading to Arctic sea ice shrinkage, diminished ice in the Greenland ice sheet, and Arctic methane release as the permafrost thaws. Due to the migration of the planets isotherms, the Arctic region is currently shrinking. Perhaps the most spectacular result of Arctic shrinkage is sea ice loss, there is a large variance in predictions of Arctic sea ice loss, with models showing near-complete to complete loss in September from 2040 to some time well beyond 2100. About half of the models show near-complete to complete sea ice loss in September by the year 2100. Arctic life is characterized by adaptation to short growing seasons with long periods of sunlight, Arctic vegetation is composed of plants such as dwarf shrubs, graminoids, herbs, lichens and mosses, which all grow relatively close to the ground, forming tundra. As one moves northward, the amount of available for plant growth decreases considerably. Colder summer temperatures cause the size, abundance, productivity and variety of plants to decrease, trees cannot grow in the Arctic, but in its warmest parts, shrubs are common and can reach 2 m in height, sedges, mosses and lichens can form thick layers. In the coldest parts of the Arctic, much of the ground is bare, non-vascular plants such as lichens and mosses predominate, along with a few scattered grasses, herbivores on the tundra include the Arctic hare, lemming, muskox, and caribou. They are preyed on by the owl, Arctic fox, Grizzly bear
12.
Arktika (1972 icebreaker)
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NS Arktika is a retired nuclear-powered icebreaker of the Soviet Arktika class. In service from 1975 to 2008, she was the first surface ship to reach the North Pole, Arktika required refuelling every three and a half years. Construction of the began in the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad on July 3,1971. Sea trials completed successfully on December 17,1975, for further information on the ships design, construction and propulsion system, see Arktika class icebreaker. In 1986 the name reverted to Arktika, according to some accounts because the crew disliked the new name. Within a week of the strike, the name was changed back, Arktika was retired for several years, but was repaired in the late 1990s. The life extension was accomplished by means of replacing critical equipment to allow the safe, on May 17,2000, a conference of Russian engineers, scientists, and government officials took place on board Arktika after her first service extension. The extension cost only $4 million, compared to the $30–50 million cost of a new nuclear icebreaker, the conference concluded thus that the lifetimes of Russian nuclear icebreakers could be successfully extended to 175,000 hours, and possibly more. On April 9,2007 a fire out on Arktika. The fire caused damage to three cabins and knocked out an electricity-distribution panel. The nuclear reactor was not damaged, the icebreaker was in the Kara Sea when the blaze erupted, and was sent to Murmansk. She is docked at Atomflot, the base and dock in Murmansk,1 ½ km away from the main docks. In the meantime, she is a subject of important research, there have been calls for the ship to be converted to a museum, either in Murmansk or St. Petersburg. An earlier Soviet nuclear icebreaker, Lenin, is already a ship in Murmansk
