Researchers may be able to use old icebreakers as drifting stations for Arctic studies, Stanislav Golovisnky, deputy general director of Atomflot [Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet], said at the RAO/CIS Offshore exhibition in St. Petersburg.

"Here's what we propose. We have decommissioned nuclear icebreakers that can provide good living conditions. These ships can be used without their nuclear powered engine; they do not even need propellers," he was quoted by Rossiya Segondya as saying.

An icebreaker with polar researchers on board could be towed, for example, to Chukotka from where it would drift to the western part of the Russian Arctic during the research season. As they drift, scientists will be able to carry out Arctic studies.