A nuclear-powered icebreaker is a nuclear-powered ship purpose-built for use in waters continuously covered with ice. Nuclear-powered icebreakers are far more powerful than their diesel-powered counterparts, and have been constructed by the USSR and then Russia primarily to aid shipping in the frozen Arctic waterways in the north of Siberia.
During the winter, the ice along the northern seaways varies in thickness from 1.2 to 2.0 metres (3.9 to 6.5 feet). The ice in central parts of the Arctic Ocean is on average 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) thick. Nuclear-powered icebreakers can force through this ice at speeds up to 10 knots (19 km/h, 12 mph). In ice-free waters the maximum speed of the nuclear-powered icebreakers is as much as 21 knots (39 km/h, 24 mph). In August 2012 Russia's state owned nuclear corporation, Rosatom, signed a contract to begin construction on what will be the world's largest nuclear icebreaker, a "universal" vessel that could navigate both shallower rivers and the freezing depths of the Arctic.
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