Russian Gov’t set to spend $2m on North Pole-40 station evacuation
The Russian government will consider at its meeting July 15, 2013 the allocation of additional RUB 65,640,000 (more than US $2 million) from Russia’s budget for urgent evacuation of the North Pole-40, a drifting ice station, the Russian government press office said on Monday.
The North Pole-40 station has carried out year-round research in the Arctic since September 2012. The NP operation is managed by the federal Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) of Rosgidromet (Russia’s hydrometeorological service).
The polar station evacuation plan had been developed due to the break-up early May of the ice floe, where the station is based on. The plan includes evacuation of personnel and equipment of the station, as well as the creation of a temporary shore base at Cape Baranov (Bolshevik Island, Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago).
