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Russia Considering Permanent Arctic Research Base
29 May 2013
(EIRNS)—The construction of a year-round Arctic research platform that will step up Russia’s presence in the energy-rich region is expected to cost up to 7 billion rubles Donskoi said that although the construction of the platform, which is expected to take about six years, is quite expensive, it is still "a real solution to the problem" of finding a base for Russia’s research work in the Arctic. The problem was evident just last week, when Donskoi ordered the preparation of an evacuation plan for the country’s North Pole 40 (SP-40) drifting polar research station, due to the break-up of the ice floe on which it is located. The station, which was opened last October, is expected to be evacuated in mid-June. A permanent base for researchers is a first step in the direction of building an entire city in the Arctic of the kind that Russian designers and engineers are envisaging with their UMKA project. At an Arctic Forum meeting in Arkhangelsk, Russian |