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New Atomic Sub Delayed a Year
An atomic submarine of the new generation will be built in Russia by 2015, Sergey Kirienko, head of the Rosatom corporation, has announced. In 2004, Russian Transportation Minister Igor Levitin suggested that the sub would be ready by 2014. The Russian atomic icebreaker fleet, which is currently in the trust management of Murmansk Naval Shipping Line, will be transferred to Rosatom. Only seven of the nine atomic submarines are currently in use. According to Kirienko, those subs will begin to be retired by 2014-2016 and only the submarine 50 Years of Victory will remain in use by 2019. Its construction was completed in 2007.
Kirienko stated that Russia will need about seven working icebreakers to develop the Arctic shelf. In addition, the Transportation Ministry predicts that the cargo traffic on the atomic icebreaker fleet will grow by more than 800 percent to 16 million tons. Kirienko noted that Canada and the United States would soon begin competing with Russia. Canada is preparing to build two atomic submarines.
The Iceberg Central Design Bureau has been commissioned to prepare a design for a new atomic submarine by next year. Construction is to begin on that sub in 2010. The 2008 federal budget includes 800 million rubles for the development of the atomic icebreaker fleet.
www.kommersant.com
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