MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. Scientists found a spot of thawing permafrost under the power plant in Norilsk, where fuel spilled in May, Director of the Melnikov Permafrost Institute (the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences) Mikhail Zheleznyak said during a presentation of the Great Norilsk Expedition’s results on Thursday.

“During the survey, we received proofs of a deep thawing area or of a complete absence of perennially frozen soils near tank number 5,” he said. “Besides, the experts have identified changes in the soil’s physical characteristics and their lower stability.”

The thawing area began forming after the fuel storage was put operational, he continued. The thawing continues, and the movement of water inside it is apparent.

“This water is connected with lakes, it is the formation of thawing, which is supported from even open water reservoirs, which exist there,” he said. “Much snow is typical for Norilsk, and those waters, which get into rocks, when they are concentrated, will make big influence along runoffs.”

The expedition’s report reads geophysics surveys have been conducted at the storage of diesel fuel near tanks number 2 and 5 and along the temporary seasonal runoff to its confluence with the Daldykan River. The power plant’s safety will be a subject of a separate survey.

Expedition to Taimyr

The Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences has sent to the Taimyr Peninsula, at the invitation of Nornickel, a big scientific expedition to conduct a large-scale examination of the area. Scientists will use the expedition’s results to present suggestions for industrial companies, working in the Arctic, on how to preserve the nature.

The expedition’s key points were watersheds of the Rivers Pyasina, Norilka and Ambarnaya, and Lake Pyasino. In August, experts from 14 research institutes of the Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch collected samples of soils, plants and sediments and began tests at the institutes’ labs.