Who needs the Yuzhnouralsk NPP? Nuclear power plants in Russia.
Igor Kurchatov personally monitored the progress of work on the “peaceful atom” project. Soon, nuclear power plants, as a new and promising way of generating energy, began to be built all over the world. The Chelyabinsk region was also supposed to acquire its own station.
"Peaceful" atom
The South Ural Nuclear Power Plant is a long-term construction project larger than the Chelyabinsk metro. The construction of the site for the station began 10 years earlier than digging tunnels - in 1982 - but apart from the barely begun skeletons of buildings in the village of Metlino, which is 15 km from Ozyorsk and 140 km from Chelyabinsk, to this day there is nothing. Construction was suspended for the first time in 1986: the terrible Chernobyl accident extinguished the desire to create such facilities for a long time. Now in Chelyabinsk region There are almost four and a half thousand people who suffered in one way or another in that disaster - these are the liquidators and their families. They were convinced from their own experience that radiation is not something to joke about and were forever convinced that nuclear power plants cannot be safe.
However, South Urals residents have encountered the consequences of radioactive contamination before. From 1949 to 1956, waste from the Mayak Production Association was dumped into the Techa River; in 1957, the explosion of a tank with radioactive waste at the same Mayak led to the contamination of a vast territory (East Ural radioactive trace). The echo of those events is still felt, therefore, when in 2006 the construction of its own nuclear power plant was supposed to resume, protests took place throughout the region.
Some advantages
The regional government did not share the residents' concerns. From an economic point of view, the region had an energy deficit - about 20% had to be purchased from neighbors. The construction of the station also guaranteed the creation of about ten thousand new jobs for residents of Ozyorsk and Snezhinsk. The South Ural Nuclear Power Plant was supposed to become the safest in the world in terms of waste processing: spent fuel practically did not need to be transported; the Mayak Production Association, located right there, planned to handle its neutralization.
However, the start of construction, planned for 2011-2013, was again postponed indefinitely. And the reason for this was not the indignation of citizens and environmentalists, but, again, purely economic reasons. During the 2008 crisis, energy consumption in the region decreased, and federal authorities considered construction unprofitable. Moreover, according to the new project, the South Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant should be equipped with the latest fast neutron reactors, the creation and operation of which are 2-3 times more expensive than conventional ones. Rosatom, in turn, considered the amount of water in the nearby lakes insufficient, which, according to experts, would not be enough to properly cool the four reactors. The public calmed down again.
To be or not to be?
They started talking about construction again in 2011 - and again at the wrong time: in March, a strong earthquake and tsunami damaged the power units of the Japanese Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, which caused a leak of radioactive water and contamination of a vast area. Frightened by the consequences of the disaster and the ineffectiveness of Japan's response measures, many European countries rushed to develop cessation programs nuclear energy. Thus, Germany plans to close all 17 nuclear power plants by 2022, and the UK and Spain intend to do the same.
In Russia, panic sentiments were not shared: Rosatom specialists are confident that Japanese engineers made too many mistakes in the first hours after the accident, and the main cause of the disaster was unacceptable wear and tear of the reactor. Therefore, negotiations between federal and regional officials regarding the construction of the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant nevertheless took place, albeit under the dissatisfied murmur of environmentalists.
The station design was once again revised - now it was planned to launch 2 power units with a total capacity of 2400 MW. But an agreement was again not reached - Rosatom still did not like the water supply scheme, and the federal authorities were in no hurry to allocate funds. Only in November 2013 it became known that the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant was included in the scheme for the construction of energy facilities until 2030. This means that any work in Ozyorsk will begin no earlier than 2025. In any case, nothing depends on the Chelyabinsk region - the financing of such facilities lies entirely with the federal budget, and whoever pays calls the tune.
South Ural NPP (Chelyabinsk NPP) location: Russia, Chelyabinsk region, city of Ozyorsk – , world nuclear power plant map
Status: Nuclear power plants under construction , NPPs under construction in Russia
Planned South Ural Nuclear Power Plant
The planned construction site of the South Ural Nuclear Power Plant (also known as the Chelyabinsk Nuclear Power Plant) is the village of Metlino, 140 km northwest of Chelyabinsk, 15 km from the city of Ozyorsk. The planned capacity is 4,600 MW. SUNPP will consist of four power units with installed reactors of the type VVER-1200, with a capacity of 1,150 MW each. Near the village of Metlino there is a mothballed construction site for the South Ural Nuclear Power Plant, consisting of three fast neutron reactors. BN-800, which was launched in 1982, but later due to the worsening economic situation, the work was frozen at the stage of 10 percent readiness.
Chelyabinsk NPP on the map. Location options
After resumption in 2006 preparatory work For the construction of the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant, the planned completion date was scheduled for 2020. The reactor type was changed to BN-1200. However, later the South Ural Nuclear Power Plant was excluded from the list of construction of electric power facilities in the Russian Federation for 2011-2016, developed by the government, due to the general decrease in energy consumption in the country after the 2008 crisis. As a result, the construction of the first power unit of the Chelyabinsk NPP has been postponed to 2021-2025 with the completion of construction of the entire station by 2030.
The construction of the South Ural NPP is due to high level energy shortage in the Chelyabinsk region. At the time of 2006, about 20% of the region’s total demand was purchased outside its borders, as a rule, in the energy-surplus Tyumen region.
The commission that dealt with the construction issue decided that the site, launched in 1982, was in a condition unsuitable for further construction. As a result, a decision was made to build a nuclear power plant with a capacity of up to 4.6 GW with an operating life of 50 years and the possibility of extension for another 10-30 years. Basic equipment must only be supplied Russian companies. In 2008, a declaration of intent to build the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant was provided. Information about the construction of the South Ural Nuclear Power Plant can be found even in diplomas, tests, semesters or other educational works of students and schoolchildren on 5orka.ru, and things are still there. Many young specialists ready to work at the plant have already been trained, but such education as the Chelyabinsk NPP still exists only in the form of plans and models.
To cool the station’s reactors, it was also necessary to build the Suroyama Reservoir with a total volume of 178 million cubic meters, although it was initially planned to use the water of nearby 13 lakes with a total volume of 894 million cubic meters of water, of which 346 was a useful, usable volume.
Stations similar to the project of the South Ural NPP on VVER-type reactors have already been built by Russian nuclear scientists in, or are being built in and
The order of the Russian government on the territorial planning scheme in the field of energy, which provides for the construction of a nuclear power plant in the closed administrative town of Ozersk, was signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Discussions about the construction of the facility began back in Soviet time, but in 1991 the South Urals residents spoke out against it in a referendum. Experts interviewed by UralPolit.Ru are skeptical about the prospects for the appearance of a nuclear power plant in the Southern Urals.
In closed Ozersk, where the Mayak chemical plant is located, it is planned to build a nuclear power plant consisting of two BN-1200 power units (fast neutrons), which will generate a power of 1,200 MW, which will cover the deficit in the region’s energy balance.
“We believe that the implementation of this project will serve as a driver for the socio-economic development of the Chelyabinsk region in general and the Ozersk urban district in particular. In addition, the implementation of the project will resolve the issue of maintaining the balance of electricity generation and flow, as well as the cost of electricity for nearby cities and regions, such as Kasli, Kyshtym. In 2015, 30% of the electricity consumption in the Chelyabinsk region was provided through flows from other energy systems.”,” the governor’s press secretary told UralPolit.Ru Dmitry Fedechkin.
According to him, the construction of a nuclear power plant will make it possible to fully ensure electricity consumption due to electrical energy, produced in the Southern Urals, which will help improve the energy security and reliability of the region, as well as reduce the cost of electrical energy for consumers: “We also predict that by 2030 the regional economy’s need for energy resources will further increase”.
The Yuzhnouralsk NPP project appeared in the USSR in the 80s. Initially it was planned that the station would consist of three BN-800 power units. Among the potential sites, Magnitogorsk, Satka, Troitsk, the village of Prigorodny in the Kaslinsky district and the village of Metlino near Ozersk were considered. At that time, residents of the region had ambivalent attitudes towards such a construction project and the issue was put to a referendum. In March 1991, South Urals residents were given the opportunity to express their will. As a result, residents voted against the construction of the facility. But despite negative attitude population, construction began anyway. In the area of the village of Metlino, which is part of the Ozersky urban district, several buildings, infrastructure facilities and a direct road to Mayak were erected. According to UralPolit.Ru, the buildings are currently not in use, are in a mothballed state and are slowly collapsing.
Experts interviewed by UralPolit.Ru are skeptical about the possibility of implementing the project. “The news is probably not that a nuclear power plant will be built in the Southern Urals. Plans for its construction appeared long ago in official documents, and their cancellation was never announced. That's why current news the fact is that the deadlines have shifted again, and fundamentally”, says the political scientist Alexander Melnikov. He recalls that the project originated in the USSR in the 80s. Behind last years The construction dates for the station were postponed to 2016, then to 2021, and now to 2030. “Because of these constant transfers, the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant began to resemble more and more an abstract project, so that even local radiophobes stopped worrying and making noise about the latest news.”, adds the expert.
His opinion is shared by the head of the Fund for Nature, an ecologist. Andrey Talevlin, back in 2010, trying to draw the attention of regional authorities to the environmental threats that nuclear power plants could pose. Then he turned to Governor Mikhail Yurevich with a demand to initiate another popular referendum on the construction of the station. But the popular expression of will never took place, and the topic then faded away.
The interlocutor of the UralPolit.Ru journalist believes that the Yuzhnouralsk NPP project was indicated in the documents so as not to forget about its existence. He claims that building such a nuclear power plant will be quite difficult, since the BN-1200 power unit declared at the disposal of the Russian government is experimental. The last power unit BN-800 was built for about 30 years at the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant in the Sverdlovsk region, but has not yet been put into operation. So far, only the BN-600 has been operating there since Soviet times, which is difficult to maintain. “The whole world has long abandoned such power units, since fast neutron technology is dangerous. There, liquid metal is used as a moderator. At such reactors the risk of accident is higher. This is bad from a nuclear safety point of view. We already have enough radiation objects that need to be dealt with. The new facility will increase the danger", says the ecologist.
Among the main problems in the implementation of the project, Andrei Talevlin sees the presence water resources and choice of territory: “In the first place where they wanted to build in Ozersk, scientists proved that it was impossible to build, since it was impossible to use reservoirs as a cooler for liquid radioactive waste. I mean the Techensky cascade".
According to his information, Rosatom has been looking and is now looking for new site near other bodies of water. “In the Chelyabinsk region it is difficult to do this due to the scarcity of water resources. To do this you need to build a new one water body. There was an option, and Rosatom discussed it, - to build a nuclear power plant on the Dolgobrod reservoir, which still cannot be completed and turned into a reserve water source.”, he noted.
Note that today the Ozersk administration does not have information about the possible resumption of construction and refrains from commenting, saying that the nuclear power plant is under the jurisdiction of Mayak. The official agenda of the chemical plant so far only includes the construction of a new reactor.
The material was prepared jointly by the news agency UralPolit.Ru and the RIA FederalPress
Photo taken fromlemur59.ru
© Anna Balabukha
Description of the presentation by individual slides:
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An integral part national security is environmental Safety. Towards industrial and agricultural pollution environment radioactive was added to the region - the result of activities production association"Lighthouse". The largest radioactive contamination of the Ural region and, in particular, the Chelyabinsk region occurred in the period from 1949 to 1956, when the Techa-Iset-Tobol river system was contaminated, and in 1957 as a result of the explosion of a container with high-level waste. The explosion was accompanied by the release of radioactive substances scattered by the wind over the Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions. The contaminated area was named the East Ural radioactive trace. The footprint area in the Chelyabinsk region is about 23 thousand square meters. km. These territories of the Kasli and Kunashak districts have been withdrawn from economic circulation for decades.
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Radioactive pollution Radioactive pollution has been added to the industrial and agricultural pollution of the environment in the region - the result of the activities of the Mayak production association. The largest radioactive contamination of the Ural region and, in particular. Chelyabinsk region occurred in the period from 1949 to 1956, when the Techa-Iset-Tobol river system was contaminated (the total activity of radioactive waste dumped into the river was 2.7 million curies), and in 1957 - as a result of the explosion of a container with high-level waste . The explosion was accompanied by the release of radioactive substances (total activity - 20 million curies), scattered by the wind over the regions of the Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions. The contaminated area was named the East Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT). The area of the EURT in the Chelyabinsk region is about 23 thousand square meters. km. These territories of the Caspian and Kunashak regions have been withdrawn from economic circulation for decades.
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Is a repeat of the 1957 accident possible? Most likely no. The nuclear industry is the vanguard of world science and technology. Today, errors that could only arise when mastering something new in nature, insufficient knowledge about this new should not and will not exist. Technology is growing every day. The environmental crisis after the Mayak accident is being eliminated. But no matter how it would be necessary to eliminate the consequences of the planned nuclear power plant. After all, it is impossible to live at the accident site and the surrounding area, since the half-life of radioactive substances is 300 years.
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From the Guinness Book of Records: The most polluted lake Lake Karachay in the Chelyabinsk region has accumulated 120 million curies of radioactivity and almost 100 times more strontium - 90 and cesium - 137 than was released during the Chernobyl accident in 1986. A person on the shore will be exposed to 600 radiation x-ray per hour. This dose is 2,000 times more than what a person receives from a chest x-ray and is enough to kill a person within an hour. The lake is located next to the Mayak chemical plant.
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50 years after the Mayak accident, they want to build a nuclear power plant in the Urals. In September 1957, a chemical waste explosion occurred, which destroyed the container containing radioactive elements. They formed a radioactive “trace” 105 kilometers long and 8–9 kilometers wide. The release amounted to 2 million curies. IN short time More than 10 thousand people were resettled from the bridge of infection, about 7 thousand more were resettled from the Techa River areas (three villages were completely liquidated and 19 were moved). 200 million rubles were spent on eliminating the consequences of the accident. For more than 30 years they were silent about the tragedy in the Chelyabinsk region. But a wave of publications about Mayak swept through the media mass media, secrecy subsided. The question arose: will the disaster happen again?
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We decided to find out the opinion of residents of our city about the construction of a nuclear power plant in the Southern Urals. The conclusions are as follows: 70% of respondents expressed their decisive “no” to construction, 10% were in favor of construction, and 20% adhered to a neutral point of view.
