China:
Orders A Nuclear-powered Icebreaker
A cooperation deal signed between China National Nuclear Corporation and China State Shipbuilding Corporation with the purpose of accelerating the development of nuclear-powered icebreakers and maritime nuclear power platforms.
According to MANA, China State Shipbuilding Corporation is to build a nuclear- powered icebreaker which will feature higher ice capabilities, better research capabilities. Morever, it is more comfortable and environmentally friendly.China currently has one diesel-powered icebreaker, the Ukraine-built Xue Long, but another has been slated for construction. The new nuclear-powered design for the Polar Research Institute vessel is expected to cost more than a billion yuan ($154 million) and take around two years to build. Construction is expected to begin at the end of 2016.
It is expected to be 122.5 meters (400 feet) long and will be able to break ice of up to 1.5 meters (five feet) thick at a speed of around two knots.
China commissioned its latest naval icebreaker, Haibing 722, in January. The vessel is assigned to the Chinese Navy's Northern Fleet to patrol the Bohai Sea.