In this paper high voltage circuit breakers, which permanently conduct and interrupt currents, including short circuit currents were analyzed. At the beginning od the work, the basic types of circuit breakers are described: air, oil, low-oil, pneumatic and SF6 circuit breakers, along with their operating principles, performance and advantages and disadvantages. The short circuit breaking current and breaking power required for circuuit breaker selection are explained, along with all relevant assumptions and expressions required for calculation. In the continuation of the paper, switching currents and powers were calsucated for selection of circuit breakers in a smaller transmission network of 220 kV, Then the replacement schemes and impedances of the network elements are defined. The calculation of short-circuit currents and breaking powers was further addressed for circuit breakers A, B, C, D, E, and F, including the procedure for determining three-phase short circuit currents with simplified substitute schemes, followed by the presentation of results for other circuit breakers and their comparison.