From KING GEORGE ISLAND — The sleek architecture and hotel-like accommodations are reminiscent of a luxury ski lodge, but this is Brazil’s USD 100 million, state-of-the-art, brand-new research base in Antarctica. The country planned to reopen its facilities at the South Pole this afternoon, eight years after a devastating fire killed two people and destroyed 70 percent of the old facilities, built back in 1984.
The official inauguration of the base was delayed until tomorrow, due to bad weather. Vice President Hamilton Mourão, Science and Technology Minister Marcos Pontes, and Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva are lodging in the nearby Chilean town of Punta Arenas, awaiting an opportunity to fly over to Antarctica.
The impressive structure stands at the site of the previous base, at the Keller Peninsula of King George Island. At 4,500 square kilometers, it is twice the size of the prior facilities; it can house 64 people at any one time and has 17 labs to support 18 ongoing studies in fields such as oceanography, glaciology, meteorology, and microbiology.
It was designed to support winds of up to 200 kilometers per hour, temperatures as low as -30 degrees Celsius, and constant seismic activity. The main concern of the architects was safety—and every single room is equipped with fire doors.
In comparison to some of Brazil’s apparently never-ending public works, eight years to build such a modern base in...
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