I think nuclear power is the way to go, and the US Coast Guard needs at least one advanced, extra-heavy icebreaker that can punch through more feet of ice than current ships. They should also have very durable, deployable rescue vehicles that can “travel the last mile” for rescue.
All of which can be done with a conventionally powered ice breaker. Nuclear power adds to the costs, limits where it can be built to one shipyard, the Coast Guard has no nuclear-trained personnel, and adds to the eventual disposal costs. Conventional is a much more cost-effective solution.
Would disagree about nuclear. Take a nuclear power plant and run it into walls all day at 4kts. It’s a dumb idea, generally (not calling you dumb).
The breaker I was on was designed to break ice using the weight of the ship (dolphining). Modern breakers use ‘bubblers’ to float ice up on an air pocket and then use the stresses in the sheet to break it.
Ice breaking is really ice avoidance, and then deciding what to break and when to break.
Now that there are drones, I would imagine scouting has become extremely interactive. We used two helicopters to plot courses through the ice.
Normally, you don’t break at night, and you don’t break in the winter.
These new breakers are military, not scientific. If I were going to attack with breakers, it would be at night and in the winter. I’d be working on the tech necessary to allow my side to do that thing.