Nuclear Icebreakers

Last weekend, Russia's floating nuclear power plant, the Akademik Lomonosov, was towed out to sea for the first time, beginning its voyage from St Petersburg to Murmansk, where it will be eventually loaded up with nuclear fuel and started up sometime in 2019.

So purpose-built that they're almost unseaworthy on the open waves, nuclear icebreakers are a fascinating solution to a specific problem - and the new class of double acting reversible ships that will replace them are just as interesting.