A satellite event of the V Congress of Young Scientists has started in Anapa

A satellite event of the V Congress of Young Scientists has started in the resort city. Scientists will have to select the best technological solutions to eliminate the consequences of the oil spill on the Black Sea coast after the tanker accident in December 2024. For this purpose, over 100 experts from more than 30 Russian cities, as well as representatives of federal and regional authorities and businesses, will work in Anapa for three days. Among the participants of the satellite event are employees of leading universities, research centers of the Russian Academy of Sciences, representatives of the Kuban Science Foundation, authors of technological solutions in the field of spill response, and volunteers.

The participants were welcomed by Ruslan Edelgeriev, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, Special Representative on Climate Issues, and Denis Sekirinsky, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.

He also noted that the value of the experience gained by scientists is due to the intensity of maritime transportation — accidents can happen in the future anyway, so we need to be prepared for prompt elimination of consequences. Currently, there are no manuals for such work. As Ruslan Edelgeriev emphasized, a huge amount of work has been done in the emergency zone in the Krasnodar Territory for six months, but the beaches have not yet been cleaned to sanitary standards and are not allowed for recreational purposes.

Denis Sekirinsky, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, noted the importance of jointly searching for scientific and technological solutions to deal with the consequences of an emergency situation.

"The format of the satellite events involves combining the efforts of the scientific and educational community and industry to solve the pressing problems of the region. Choice

The tasks facing the scientific community were outlined in their speeches by Maxim Korolkov, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation; Viktor Chernov, Head of the Maritime Rescue Service; Timofey Sulima, Deputy Director of the Department of Educational, Scientific and Technical Activities of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations; Anna Turusheva, representative of the Department of Strategic Development and Corporate Policy of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation; and Anna Turusheva, Minister of Civil Defense and emergency situations of the Krasnodar Territory Sergey Shtrikov.

Timofey Sulima spoke about the importance of a holistic approach and the principle of "do no harm." He noted that different approaches to cleaning the shore had previously been considered, but many were eventually rejected due to the formation of secondary toxic products during the neutralization of fuel oil. Scientists are expected, first of all, to use effective methods to clean sand up to the standard values so that it can be left on beaches.

Andrey Korolev, Deputy Director of the Kurchatov Institute Research Center, spoke about the global experience in eliminating fuel oil, in particular, he highlighted the methods that are most applicable to emergencies in the Kerch Strait. The peculiarity of the fuel oil trapped in the Black Sea is that these are heavy fractions that, being saturated with water, sink to the bottom or move in the water column. Scientists will have to identify a set of measures and promising solutions to eliminate the consequences of a fuel oil spill in the marine area and on land, propose advanced technical means, as well as a monitoring system for marine and terrestrial ecosystems. The scientific sessions will take place over three days. The result will be draft decisions and recommendations aimed at both the short and long term. It is possible that some of them will become the basis for a federal-scale environmental project.

On the first day of the satellite event, reports on past testing and ready-to-implement domestic developments will be heard. These include sorbents for detoxifying sand, technologies for restoring the coastal strip, and an innovative preparation for washing pebbles and rocks. Individual developments will be shown in action directly on the beaches.

A seminar on the selection of promising solutions is scheduled for June 3, after which project teams will start working under the guidance of curators from the Krasnodar Territory. The participants of the groups will present their results at the closing of the event on June 4.