The exploded Chernobyl nuclear plant caused not only environmental damage. The catastrophe of the “peaceful atom” entailed a revision of the concept of plant safety, the closure of facilities of this type under construction, and the refusal to build new nuclear power plants for many years. The orthodox decision was made under the pressure of circumstances and the public. Further developments have shown that it is impossible to do without nuclear power on a state scale. Disasters, neglect of safety procedures and risky experiments, control of which is impossible, lead to disasters.
Tatar NPP - the history of construction
In connection with the active construction of large-scale industrial facilities in Tatarstan, such as the Nizhnekamsk Chemical Plant, the automobile giant KamAZ, and Nizhnekamenshkshina, since 1978, the government has been discussing the issue of increasing the region’s energy supply. Nuclear plants were being built everywhere at that time, so it was decided to build a nuclear power plant fifty kilometers from Nizhnekamsk, where the village of Kamskiye Polyany used to be.
The project of the Tatar NPP was developed by the Atomteploelektroprokt branch in Riga, and the general contractor was Kamgesenergostroy. A standard project was proposed for construction, according to which the Balakovo NPP, the Chernobyl NPP and the Khmelnitsky, Volgodonskaya stations, as well as the unfinished Krymskaya and Bashkir NPPs, were already built and operated.
The construction began in 1980, the planned launch of the first power unit was to take place in 1992, the remaining power plants were planned to be used as soon as possible. The main works were carried out in 1988, capital investments amounted to 288 million rubles, the cost of construction and installation works was estimated at 96 million rubles. According to the project, the Tatar NPP was supposed to have a capacity of 4,000 MW, which were generated by four reactors.
Interestingly, in the press, stories about the power of the unfinished station are constantly being discussed. According to rumors, it was planned to install 12 reactors on it. For comparison: the most powerful Zaporizhzhya NPP in Europe is equipped with only 6 reactors and its capacity is 6,000 MW.
Conservation
In 1990, construction was completely discontinued. At that time, the Tatar NPP was preparing for the last stage of work. It was planned to complete the construction of the reactor compartments, engine rooms of the first two power units, the foundation plate of the reactor compartment of the third power unit was laid, pits for the third and fourth power plants were prepared.
According to the then planned construction, this stage meant the final phase of the construction of the Tatar NPP facility. Construction is stopped completely. In addition to the station itself, a town was ready for power engineers - Kamsky Polyany, administrative buildings, a start-up boiler room, an embankment of a reservoir was created, auxiliary services were built. Preparations were underway for the importation of nuclear fuel, at this stage the facility was mothballed. Since the fuel was not delivered, the complex itself does not pose a radiation hazard.
The Tatar NPP is not the only monument to the “peaceful atom”, about fifteen nuclear power plants at various stages of construction were frozen throughout the former Union during the same period.
Closing reasons
On April 17, 1990, a decree of the government of the TASSR “On the cessation of the construction of industrial facilities of the Tatar NPP” was published. The reasons for stopping construction were reported to be located in the Kama Fault zone, which is characterized by tectonic activity. This statement was soon confirmed by a tangible earthquake in Zakamye.
But many believe: the main reason that the construction of the Tatar NPP was stopped is the disaster at the Chernobyl station in 1986. A significant role in this matter was played by social movements. Even constantly warring organizations rallied against the launch of a nuclear facility. Even then, it was clear that unfinished construction would be a stone on the budget, in connection with which the leadership of the republic tried to find another application for the object.
There were ideas, plans, and even projects for converting a nuclear power plant to a hydroelectric power station, where natural sources of energy would be used. The project remained in the coordination stage, other problems began in the USSR - a change in the economic and political system.
With a past without a future
The abandoned infrastructure facilities and the Tatar NPP itself are an expenditure item of the republican budget, but the village has become a bigger problem. Kamsky Polyany, where builders and future employees of the failed station lived. People needed to provide jobs. A lot of projects were done. One of them intended to create a gambling zone on the basis of the village, but the idea went to waste due to the introduction of a moratorium. The following proposal was no less tempting: on the territory of the nuclear power plant to create space for extreme sports, quests, use the station's premises for tourism purposes.
The number of projects and proposals did not solve the main problem - the energy shortage persisted, so the republic’s leadership regularly resumed discussions on the resuscitation of the construction of such an object as the Tatar NPP (Republic of Tatarstan). Attempts were made in 2003, 2005, but environmental organizations invariably vetoed the proposals.
Devastating depression
Some mothballed nuclear power plants (Kostroma, Bashkir) after the collapse of the USSR remained on the balance sheet of Rosenergoatom, the Tatar NPP passed to the republican balance of Tatarstan. And if the concern allocates funds for its mothballed facilities in order to preserve material values ​​as much as possible and to be able to resume construction at any time, then Tatarstan did not see such a need. As a result, the nuclear power plant is pulled apart by lovers of gratis building materials, non-ferrous metals help establish a “business” for marauders.
Most of the population of the village works outside its borders, many left for Nizhnekamsk, Kazan. Someone remained in the cage of professionals and went to northern construction sites. The entire territory of the former nuclear power plant and the adjacent built-up space resembles a ghost town or the Zone from the novel of the Strugatsky brothers, from where the left legacy of the USSR is thrown into the world.
To be or not to be
In November 2013, the Russian government issued a decree on regional planning for the development of the energy complex, where the main emphasis was placed on the construction of new nuclear power plants and hydroelectric power stations. The plan was drawn up until 2030, the beginning of its implementation is already visible in many areas of the country. The Tatar NPP is also mentioned in the document as an object that is in the top priorities of the resumption of construction.
According to the announced plans, life will return to Kamskiy Polyany when the Tatar NPP is reanimated. The resumption of construction began with the clearing of the territory and should be completed in 2030, when the station starts operating at full capacity. The first power unit is scheduled to be launched in 2026.
But, the question of the station’s location still raises more concerns than positive sentiments. The tectonically active Kama Fault has not disappeared, the consequences of the destruction of the nuclear power plant are known and “verified” empirically, no one wants to allow a catastrophe again. Civic activists and public opinion are in favor of canceling the construction. To give a final answer to the question: where will the Tatar NPP be built, no one is taken with full confidence. Kamskiye Polyany is an ideal option, but no one can discount the natural factors and opinions of people living in the region.
The opinion of nuclear scientists
Passions around construction are heating up, but scientists working in radioecology claim that after Chernobyl and Fukushima the technologies were improved, the level of safety allows you to install nuclear reactors anywhere and not get the slightest leak. Nuclear energy is the safest technology to date. It is believed that thermal power plants and hydroelectric power plants pollute the environment much more, and industrial production in some regions of Russia and Tatarstan in particular have a higher level of threat of destruction of all life in the event of a disaster at the enterprise.
The last argument in favor of the ban on construction is a seismic hazard in the area of ​​the construction of the Tatar NPP facility. Scientists believe that the problem is too exaggerated and give an example of safe operation of nuclear power plants on the Kola Peninsula, Armenia, where such a danger is more likely and seismic activity has manifested more than once. Perhaps the old project did not meet modern challenges, and the unfinished station was waiting for a new level of security, which could provide a modern level of technological development.
Resuscitation or a new project?
The question of where the Tatar NPP will be built has so far been decided in favor of the Kamaskiye Polyany. Rosenergoatom concern took over the construction. According to the new project, the plant’s capacity will be 2,300 MW, which will provide two reactors of 1,150 MW each. Nobody will return to the old construction option, but it’s worth using the remaining infrastructure, this will offset some of the costs. The cost of the current project is estimated at between $ 20 and $ 48 billion.
Supporters
The construction of nuclear power plants always causes resonance, and the Tatar NPP is no exception. The resumption of construction raised a storm in society. There were both supporters and opponents. The need to build a station is justified by the rapid development of Zakamye. In the economic zone in the Yelabuga region, it is planned to build one hundred and thirty energy-intensive industrial enterprises, there are big plans for the development of industrial production in Naberezhnye Chelny, a developing petrochemical industry in Nizhnekamsk requires energy, the construction of the second stage of the Ammonium plant is planned in Mendeleevsk. Cheap energy is needed to meet growing needs.
Proponents of the launch of nuclear power plants focus on the economic component of the future well-being of all of Tatarstan and on the safety of the use of nuclear energy. In addition, the nuclear power plant will solve the issue of unemployment in Kama Polyana. Today, about 15,700 people live in the city, the vast majority of the population is forced to look for jobs far beyond the city. Often, energy specialists work on a rotational basis at different construction sites or even go to other regions in search of a better share. The launch of the station will not only provide work to the entire population, but also increase the influx of labor, and then the number of inhabitants to 600 thousand people.
Opponents
Against the construction of nuclear power plants are environmentalists, scientists and ordinary citizens. The argument is a seismic hazard, which can lead to the leakage and infection of a huge region, the death of people in a densely populated area. The consequences of the disaster can be described, but it is impossible to calculate all the losses, especially in the long run. The Chernobyl disaster still presents disappointing surprises, despite the assurances of the Ukrainian official authorities that the zone is completely clean.
Additional arguments for a moratorium on construction are the presence of several energy sources in the immediate vicinity of regions with industrial facilities. In particular, they point to the Nizhnekamsk hydroelectric station, which does not operate at full capacity. Filling the reservoir of the hydroelectric power station to the level of 68 meters (now 63 meters) will increase the capacity to the design 1248 MW. (now 450 MW.).
Also, some opponents say that the restoration of the region’s energy independence can be started not from the Tatar NPP, but to reanimate the station in the town of Dimitrovgrad. What is the Tatar NPP today - these are completely destroyed buildings, only a small part of which has been preserved in integrity and only because concrete casting can be destroyed only by a directed atomic explosion. In Dimitrovgrad, until recently, 8 reactors were functioning, their purpose was research and military.
Now there are only two working there, the entire infrastructure is completely ready, no special work and financial costs for re-profiling will be required. There are several more options for solving the problem of providing energy, while accusing Rosatom of lobbying for its own interests to the detriment of regional ones.
Voice of the people
The majority of the population sees an open threat from the deployment of nuclear reactors in close proximity to themselves, rallies are initiated against the resuscitation of the station. The construction of the Tatar NPP in the vast majority of cases is perceived negatively.
Meetings at the highest level are held in the republic, work is being carried out with the population to clarify the safety of modern nuclear technologies, which are planned for the use of the Tatar NPP project. In Mamadysh, Naberezhnye Chelny and other large cities of Tatarstan, the majority of the population does not express support for the project. At the same time, everyone wants to live in a region with a high standard of living. The paradox is still insoluble.