Underground nuclear power station to be built in Crimea

A sensational report was published yesterday in Ukrainian Internet-edition ForUm. In the city of Sevastopol, a small underground nuclear power station is planned to be built. The sensation could be placed in an underground gallery, at a depth of 80 m. There is such a gallery on the territory of a thermoelectric power station in the city of Inkerman. To consider the project, special working group of functionaries and deputies was created by the joint decision of Sevastopol city administration and Inkerman city council. Actually, that was one of the group’s members who reported to the ForUm journalists about this project. The question is about nuclear power station with capacity of 300 megawatt, that should solve the problem of energy supply in Sevastopol. According to ForUm, project researches could be carried out by specialists from St Petersburg and Kiev, though if questions of equipment and fuel supply connected with this building could be settled, one more question remains to be unsolved – burial of nuclear waste. According to already existing projects, the waste fuel will be kept in Sevastopol as well, while this fact cannot satisfy the citizens. However, if the project is realized, its authors suppose, other Crimean cities could also get their nuclear power stations. Of course, Crimea needs its energy sources, though such a cardinal decision could finally have more minuses, than pluses. For example, much efforts are necessary to persuade tourists underground nuclear energy is safe. If it is really safe, what is the question. Even a small “regular” breakdown could for a long time deprive the peninsula of tourism incomes. Though, at the moment the question is only about plans. Any official confirmations or refutations of the ForUm report have not appeared yet.

Andrei Lubenski PRAVDA.Ru Ukraine Translated by Vera Solovieva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/02/05/36613.html