16. Read the newspaper article. Share your point of view about the perspectives of Russian-American business relations. From Russia with Love: Tunnel to Link Siberia and Alaska

Russia introduced a plan to link Siberia and Alaska by building a tunnel under the Bering Strait. Russia’s national electric company and state railroad introduced the $65 billion plan. Russia plans to build a transport and pipeline link, along with the tunnel, to supply the U.S. with oil, natural gas and electricity from Siberia. Russia would coordinate with the U.S. and Canada on the project that would take 10 to 15 years to complete. At 64 miles, this tunnel - to be named ‘TKM-World Link‘ - would be more than twice as long as the underwater section of the Channel Tunnel between the U.K. and France, according to the plan.

History of the Tunnel

The idea of a tunnel under the Bering Strait was envisaged in 1905 by Tzar Nicholay II, Russia’s last emperor. 38 years ago, his grandfather had sold Alaska to America for $7.2 million. But World War I put an end to that project.

Thereafter, the tunnel’s idea was floating time and again, sometimes, as a transportation corridor and at other times, as a symbol of political unity between Russia and the United States. Now that plan has acquired business dimension, it is expected to be taken seriously.

Geography of the Tunnel

The tunnel would link Russian towns of Providenie and Chukotsky, with Nome in Alaska. The tunnel would be dug from Cape Dezhev in Siberia to Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska. Officials in Moscow said it would surface twice, on the Diomede Islands in the middle of the strait.

Economics of the Tunnel

The tunnel is expected to cost $10 to $15 billion. Further complicating the project, however, the tunnel would require building a total of 6,000 kilometers of railway to connect it to the nearest railheads on both sides of the strait. The railway links would add about $55 billion, making up most of the final cost. With cargo traffic of as much as 100 million tons annually expected on the World Link, the investments in the rail section could be repaid in 20 years. Russia and the U.S. may each in the end take 25 percent stakes. Investors in the public-private partnership include the “Russian Railways Company”, “Unified Energy System” and the pipeline operator “Transneft”.

Over the years, the Russians have achieved some amazing feats. The Soviet Union recorded improbable industrial triumphs in the Arctic like exporting metal ore via nuclear-powered ice breaker. The technical feasibility study of this plan is already underway. It is just a matter of time, before the grandiose Russian idea to unlock the riches of Siberia fructifies.