Yevgeny Trifonov: ora to understand that it is impossible to continue to endlessly exploit the Soviet legacy: power plants, factories and mines

11.06.2020       

The most powerful hydroelectric power station in Russia – Sayano-Shushenskaya (installed capacity - 6400 MW, average annual output 24.5 billion kW / h). And she – the most dangerous, causing the most controversy among power engineers and economists, and the most feared by the public.

SShGES – an ideal product of the Soviet attitude to the economy and nature, as well as to the principles of planning, building and operating industrial facilities. Built last in the USSR, the SSHPP fully embodies all these principles.

An open letter appeared to the President and Prime Minister of the Russian Federation from residents of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Khakassia: “We are all very concerned about the state of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric dam, and not only in connection with the accident on August 17 this year. Much of what we knew at the level of rumors is confirmed by the conclusions of reputable scientists and experts… Addressing you, dear Dmitry Anatolyevich and Vladimir Vladimirovich, we ask for the sake of the safety of hundreds of thousands of human lives to make a decision on the complete descent of the Sayano-Shushenskoye reservoir and the closure of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station».

Large HPPs are designed for 100 years of operation, although assumptions of this kind do not have a serious evidence base and are based on strictly scientific calculations. The dam, which is 40 years old, would have served almost half of its allotted time, but given the errors in design and construction, as well as the accelerated wear of the dam for natural reasons, it seems that it is worth thinking about its future now.

Of course, most likely, the SSHPP will remain idle for several more decades without catastrophic accidents. Although, given the seismicity of the Sayans, it is necessary to take into account the saddest scenarios. And it is necessary to think about what to do with this legacy of Soviet slovenly planning and storming, now. Some conclusions seem to have been made: the Boguchanskaya HPP was built lower than originally planned, and the construction of the giant Evenki HPP was abandoned altogether. Although, perhaps, the protests of the inhabitants of the region, or, more likely, the lack of funds.

B.E. Vedeneeva, proposes to lower the level of the reservoir, reducing the destructive processes. In order to prevent the dam from breaking, reservoirs should be built upstream along the Yenisei – in the Republic of Tuva.

But most importantly – it is time to understand that it is impossible to continue to exploit the Soviet legacy indefinitely: power plants, factories and mines. Not only is their life span ending – many of them were initially poorly designed, even worse built and mediocrely operated. Required – and this applies not only to energy – build new businesses complying with completely different safety standards. The tragedy of 2009 at the SSHGES – a terrible reminder to think and act now.

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