Norilsk Nickel's experience in conducting geotechnical monitoring and risk management will be in demand for the future state permafrost monitoring system, according to experts who spoke at a meeting in Russia’s Federation Council.
Alexey Pinchuk, Director of the Department of Federal and Regional Programs of Norilsk Nickel, spoke about the technologies that the company uses.
The information and diagnostic system for background permafrost monitoring, created by the company with the participation of the Norilsk administration and scientists from the Polar State University, covers about 1,000 industrial facilities and buildings, which allows for real-time monitoring of the safety of a large number of structures.
The company drilled 375 new monitoring wells at its facilities, and installed 480 thermal pliers, 1,150 inclinometers on buildings, and more than 500 other types of sensors such as strain gauges, accelerometers, linear displacement sensors and 60 temperature and humidity sensors. At the same time, Norilsk Nickel was the first to use a two-level system of criterion values: when exceeded, extraordinary inspections are carried out to identify potentially dangerous situations at an early stage and measures are taken to prevent accidents.
The company's project to solve an important state task of organizing background monitoring of permafrost has been awarded a number of specialized awards in the field of information technology and industrial automation of monitoring and forecasting climate change, said Alexey Pinchuk. According to him, the company is ready to share the relevant experience.
In addition, Norilsk Nickel supports further scientific research necessary for a more in-depth study and forecasting of the state of permafrost. With the support of the company, a new competence center was created at the Polar State University for the study of perennial frozen soils, which carries out scientific and practical research and educational activities.
"It is important that the system created by the company is automated. This contributes to the efficient management of facilities and structures, makes it possible to anticipate risks. This experience needs to be disseminated so that our industrial enterprises would include such options in the design process: not to implement them later, but during the design stage,” noted Sakhamin Afanasyev, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Federal Structure, Regional Policy, Local Government and Northern Affairs.
In his opinion, in order to increase the efficiency of the federal system for monitoring the state of permafrost, greater coordination of the efforts of relevant departments, the scientific community and business representatives is necessary. It is also important to take into account the developments of industrial enterprises that carry out their economic activities in the Arctic and already have experience in such monitoring systems.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
