Northern influence: the protection of nature in the development of the Arctic was discussed at the Marine Collegium

A meeting of the Scientific and Expert Council of the Russian Maritime Collegium was held in St. Petersburg, the main topic of which was the protection of nature in the development of the Arctic. The head of the coordinating body noted the importance of preserving the healthy environment of the North in the implementation of the project for the development of the Arctic Zone and the Transarctic Transport Corridor. Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the Kurchatov Institute, stressed the need to create a fundamentally new energy industry in the region, based on low-power nuclear power plants.

Arctic Conservation

On October 7, a meeting of the Scientific and Expert Council of the Russian Maritime Collegium was held at the Mariinsky Palace in St. Petersburg. The event was dedicated to discussing issues of protecting the natural environment of the Arctic zone of Russia, taking into account the development of the Transarctic transport corridor and industrial development of the Arctic.

Currently, in order to protect our country's national interests in the region, new editions of the Fundamentals of Russia's State Policy in the Arctic and the Strategy for Socio-Economic Development of the Arctic Zone and Ensuring National Security are being prepared on behalf of the head of state. These documents should define the main goals of the development of these territories, taking into account the changing geopolitical and geo-economic situation, Nikolai Patrushev, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Maritime Board, said at the opening of the meeting.

A comprehensive project for the development of the Russian Arctic zone and the Transarctic transport Corridor, which is currently being prepared, will also serve as a tool for achieving these goals, paying attention to the protection of the natural environment and environmental safety of the region.

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— One of the key goals of Russia's policy in high latitudes remains to ensure a balance between the development of Arctic territories at a qualitatively new level and the preservation of the fragile Arctic ecosystem. Therefore, a comprehensive project for the development of the Arctic zone and the Transarctic transport corridor should systematically summarize the currently disparate measures to ensure the environmental well—being of the region and ensure their interrelated implementation," Nikolai Patrushev said.

In his opinion, the priorities should be the elimination of accumulated industrial waste and the rehabilitation of the northern territories, as well as ensuring environmental safety in the implementation of infrastructure and industrial projects. It is necessary to intensify Russian scientific research assessing the impact of economic activity on the ecological state of the Arctic region.

In his speech, Nikolai Patrushev also noted that our country is increasingly criticized for the ecological state of the Arctic territories, allegedly deteriorating significantly due to active economic activity. In fact, environmental issues have become a tool for Western countries to promote their own commercial interests and deter Russia's activities in the Arctic.

He emphasized the active work of the sections of the Scientific Council on the formation of recommendations and proposals for the Marine Board. In addition to the already planned topics, he recommended focusing on discussing the development of international scientific cooperation, the implementation of national maritime policy in the territories of the new subjects of the Russian Federation, improving the effectiveness of protecting internal sea waters, the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf of our country, and the development of offshore and offshore fields under sanctions.

Between industry and nature

According to Mikhail Kovalchuk, Chairman of the Scientific and Expert Council of the Marine Collegium, President of the Kurchatov Institute, when developing the Arctic, it is necessary to take into account, on the one hand, the importance of industrial activity, and, on the other, the need to preserve nature. First of all, it was necessary to clear these territories of industrial debris left over from Soviet times. And that job was done.

— Today it is extremely important to provide for the possibility of targeted scientific guidance and maintenance of facilities (in the Arctic - Izvestia) From the moment of their creation to their decommissioning, this is a key issue of our efficiency," said Mikhail Kovalchuk.

The scientist also recalled that the decree of the President of the Russian Federation approved a Strategy for the development of nature-like technologies, which can become the basis for the careful use of the northern territories. Taking into account the peculiarities of the region, a fundamentally new energy sector should be formed there, which can be based on technologies implemented in submarines. It is necessary to create small nuclear power plants, as economic analysis has shown that the majority of requests in the North for energy sources with a capacity of up to 1 MW. And such developments already exist.

— We already have a stable base for the development of the Northern Sea Route and the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor. Now it also includes railways — Transsib, BAM, motorways and rivers. This will make it possible to turn the eastern part of Russia into a unique logistics ground of a civilizational scale that will connect Southeast Asia, Asia in general, and the Far East with Europe and the whole world," Mikhail Kovalchuk said.

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While in St. Petersburg, Nikolai Patrushev also visited the office of Sovcomflot, one of the largest cargo carriers operating in the Arctic. The head of the Marine Colleague instructed the company's management to assist the Petrozavodsk branch of the Admiral Makarov State University of the Marine and River Fleet in training young personnel for the industry.

During the visit, he was also shown the operational control center, which receives real-time data on the location of ships, ice conditions, weather conditions and the condition of ship equipment.

The guest was shown the work of a VR simulator for controlling ships. The system runs on domestic software, and allows you to repeatedly practice the actions of sailors in various situations in order to minimize the possibility of error in real conditions.