Release of National Research Council Report
"Polar Icebreaker Roles and U.S. Future Needs: A Preliminary Assessment"
The full text of the report and a free PDF for download are available
via the National Academies Press at:
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11525.html
The National Academies' Polar Research Board (PRB) and the
Transportation Research Board (TRB) are pleased to announce the release
of a new report: "Polar Icebreaker Roles and U.S. Future Needs: A
Preliminary Assessment."
The age and condition of the U.S. Coast Guard's polar icebreakers are
jeopardizing national security and scientific research in the Arctic and
Antarctic, according to an interim report from the National Academies'
National Research Council. Because of a shortfall in funding for U.S.
polar icebreaking activities, long-term maintenance on these icebreakers
has been deferred over the past several years, making the ships
inefficient to operate and their technological systems outdated.
Congress asked the National Academies to provide a comprehensive
assessment of the current and future roles of polar icebreakers in
supporting U.S. operations in the Antarctic and the Arctic, including
scenarios for continuing those operations and alternative approaches,
the changes in roles and missions of polar icebreakers in the support of
all national priorities in the polar regions, and potential changes in
the roles of U.S. Coast Guard icebreakers in the Arctic that may develop
due to environmental change. This brief interim report highlights the
most urgent and time-dependent issues, and a final report, expected to
be released next summer, will examine the type of icebreaking ships that
the U.S. requires in the long term and other issues.
The full text of the report and a free PDF for download are available
via the National Academies Press at:
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11525.html
The National Academies' Office of News and Public Information's press
release is available at:
http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/0309100690?OpenDocument