The scientific and educational project “Icebreaker of Knowledge” organized by the Nuclear Industry Information Centre (NIIC) network with the support of Rosatom aims to promote natural sciences and nuclear industry technologies. The project seeks to find and support talented and gifted children, as well as to develop their talents and provide them with career guidance. Schoolchildren from around the world, aged 14 to 16, are invited to take part in the project. The most successful participants will join the scientific and educational expedition to the North Pole on the nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory).

For the past 6 years, the “Icebreaker of Knowledge” project has given talented and active children the chance to take an unforgettable journey to the North Pole aboard a nuclear icebreaker in a company of like-minded peers. Since the start of the project, more than 350 schoolchildren have participated in Arctic expeditions organized by Rosatom. In 2024, the project took an international turn with a team of 15 students and experts from Armenia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Mongolia, Hungary, India, China, and South Africa embarking on a journey to the North Pole aboard the nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory).

In 2025, Russia’s nuclear industry is celebrating its 80th anniversary. The USSR is the pioneer and global leader in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Soviet atomists constructed the world’s first NPP in Obninsk in 1954, developed the first nuclear icebreaker Lenin in 1959 to assist the Arctic explorers. In the present day, Rosatom remains dedicated to the development and deployment of innovative technologies across diverse sectors. Rosatom not only constructs nuclear power plants, providing clean energy to hundreds of millions of people in dozens of countries worldwide, but also supports the logistics framework of the Northern Sea Route, produces new materials, develops and manufactures pharmaceuticals for nuclear medicine. The central theme of this anniversary year is based on three words: pride, inspiration, and aspiration. Nuclear scientists are proud of the feats of the industry trailblazers, being inspired by the success of past generations, and striving to expand the limits of what is possible by venturing into uncharted territories. The 80th anniversary of the industry is planned to be celebrated with a series of events the most important of which is the “World Atomic Week” international forum, which will be held in Moscow this fall.

The Northern Sea Route, the shortest shipping route connecting Western Eurasia with the Asia-Pacific region, has been historically developed as a national transportation artery of Russia. The first documented reference to this route dates back to 1525, when Russian diplomat Dmitry Gerasimov came up with an idea of a shipping route through the Arctic Ocean, which paved the way for maritime communication between China and Russia. From that point on, the history of the route continued and in 2025, it will mark its 500th anniversary.

In 2018, the Russian Government appointed Rosatom the Northern Sea Route (the NSR) infrastructure operator. Rosatom is responsible for overseeing the federal project “Development of the Northern Sea Route” also being involved in the plan for the development of the Northern Sea Route until 2035 and the initiative for the socio-economic growth of the Russian Federation until 2030 “Year-Round Northern Sea Route” approved by the order of the Russian Government.

Russia is the only country in the world to boast a fleet of nuclear icebreakers. This fleet is managed by Rosatom, specifically through its subsidiary Atomflot FSUE. At present, Atomflot’s fleet consists of eight nuclear icebreakers.