Work on the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes began in the USSR in 1948. Generation of electricity was chosen as the main direction. The first nuclear power plant was launched on July 27, 1954 in the city of Obninsk (Kaluga region).
The construction of nuclear power plants not only in the USSR, but also abroad was suspended after the Chernobyl accident on April 26, 1986. Many projects were canceled at the design stage, and the construction projects that had begun were mothballed. Among the latter was the Crimean NPP.
The history of the creation of nuclear power plants.
The nuclear power plant was built to provide electricity to the peninsula. In addition, it was assumed that it would become a reserve for the industrial development of the region. First of all, in the chemical field, as well as metallurgical and machine-building. The project consisted of two units with a capacity of 1 GW each, then the construction of two more units would increase the capacity to 4 GW.
Design surveys were carried out in 1968, and in 1875 the builders came.
At the end of 1980, the construction site was declared a shock Komsomol of Republican significance, and at the beginning of 1984 - already an All-Union shock.
Created according to the plan
- the city of Shchelkino - a satellite of the nuclear power plant;
- reservoir embankment;
- various ancillary facilities.
Besides
- laid a railway line from the Kerch line for the delivery of building materials;
- a polar crane was installed, which after the completion of construction (the launch of the first reactor was planned in 1989) would work inside the station.
In 1982, the walls of the nuclear power plant began to be erected.
Helpful information:
Polar crane - a bridge crane of circular action, having a sealed shell. Used in nuclear power plants.
Nuclear fuel was also brought in, but, fortunately, it was not used.
Events in Chernobyl - stop construction
In 1987, the construction of the power plant was suspended. Later, the economic situation in the country led to the final abandonment of the project, although it was completed by 80%. As a result, the great building was abandoned.
At first, young people drew attention to the “landscape of the future”, and from 1995 to 1999, Kazantip electronic music festivals were held in the turbine department of the station, which gave the name to the whole movement. Later, various “futuristic” events were also held here.
In 1998, the sale of the station's property began, which continued until 2005.
Currently, the abandoned Crimean NPP is undergoing a period of disposal of the remaining structures, and an industrial park is planned to be created on its territory.
Interesting:
- At the nuclear power plant in 2007, F. Bondarchuk filmed the film "Inhabited Island".
- The Crimean NPP was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive nuclear reactor on the planet. The level of its readiness by the time construction was stopped was the highest in comparison with the also "frozen" Tatar and Bashkir.
Crimean NPP today
Fans of extreme experiences are the main visitors to the abandoned site.
It is guarded, and you can get here either by agreeing with the watchmen, or in some other, non-standard way.
The local landscape is made up of crumbling reinforced concrete structures, the destroyed walls of the main power unit, the remains of huge units. This is a great backdrop for unique photos and selfies.
However, the goal of the visitors is the turbine section. It is dangerous to go there on your own, which, however, few people stop. But for those who climb to the roof of the building, stunning views open up.
There is a version of the restoration and completion of the Crimean nuclear power plant. She has both supporters and opponents, and each has quite good arguments for or against.
To date, the most promising is the idea of creating an industrial park here.
Video walk to an abandoned nuclear power plant
Curious:
In Germany, there is a twin sister of our nuclear power plant. It is located west of Berlin and is called Stendal. It was completed by 85%.
How to get there
Address: Crimea, Leninsky district, Shchelkino.
Regular buses to Shchelkino go from Simferopol and Sevastopol.
There is a regular bus service from Kerch to Shchelkino (journey time 1 hour 35 minutes).
You need to get off at the village of Semenovka, then on foot.
Crimean NPP on the map of the peninsula
GPS Coordinates: 45.391907, 35.803920 Latitude/Longitude
The territory of Crimea is a very favorable place for the construction of electric power facilities, since the peninsula is convenient for the construction of large power plants that will be located away from the “mainland”, but will be able to provide the mainland of the republic with energy. It was these opinions that led to the start of the construction of the Crimean NPP in 1975.
A bit of history
Initially, the capacity laid down under the project assumed the full supply of the peninsula with electricity, which made it possible to make it independent in terms of energy resources from Ukraine. It was supposed to use uranium-235 as the main fuel, and the standard design assumed the placement of 4 VVER-1000 reactors.
During the Soviet Union, every major construction site was declared a shock communist one. A similar situation arose during the construction of a power plant in the Crimea. Starting from 1984, the construction was declared All-Union at all. At the very beginning of construction, a satellite city was built, the embankment of the reservoir was strengthened, and auxiliary facilities were erected. Since 1982, the construction of the nuclear power plant itself has been actively carried out. It was reported that according to the schedule, the Crimean NPP would be completed by 1989.
Changes in the industry: reasons
Everything changed after the infamous Chernobyl nuclear power plant. In 1986, an explosion occurred, which led to the destruction of several power units, the release of a large amount of radioactive particles into the surrounding atmosphere, and the pollution of a large area. Starting from that moment, it was decided to suspend the construction of unfinished nuclear power plants. The construction of the Crimean nuclear power plant was also stopped at the stage of completion of the first of four reactors.
Reasons for stopping construction
- Unfavorable economic environment in the USSR.
- Theft of materials from suspended enterprises.
During the 90s, the premises of the unfinished reactor hosted the well-known and popular festivals “KaZantip” among the “club” youth. In the late 90s, early 2000s, a special company was created on the basis of a power plant in the Crimea, whose task was to sell the equipment that remained intact. In total, more than 2 million Ukrainian hryvnias were received. By the beginning of 2003, only an abandoned building and several outbuildings remained on the balance sheet of the plant.
A unique polar crane, which was planned to be used to carry out the movement of goods inside the power reactor, was used as the basis for base jumping. Subsequently, the crane was sold for a price many times less than the real one. The end of the existence of the station was its transfer to the Council of Ministers of Crimea in 2004. As planned, the Crimean authorities were supposed to sell the rest of the property and use these funds to solve the problems of the peninsula. Nobody was going to finish building the former strategic facility today.
Today, the Crimean NPP is under the control of Rosatom and there are talks about writing off the unfinished facility from the balance of the republic, and using the building materials received after a complete analysis as materials for the construction of a crossing across the Kerch Strait.
The absence of its own nuclear power plant in Crimea does not mean that the republic has completely lost the ability to independently generate energy. In 2015, the construction of two thermal power plants on the peninsula was announced, with a total capacity of 940 MW.
Modern power plants in Crimea
The construction of power plants in Crimea is now in full swing, since according to the current schedule, the first power units should be put into operation as early as 2017, and according to the project, it intends to achieve full capacity by 2018. In parallel, it is planned to launch the Kuban-Krym gas pipeline, which will provide the required level of gas supply to the stations under construction.
The construction of own power plants in the Crimea is an attempt to stop depending on the electricity of Ukraine, since the peninsula is 70% dependent on the supply of energy resources of the republic. The missing 880 MW can be replenished by launching new thermal power plants, which have increased efficiency, are designed to use less fuel and are distinguished by a closed water consumption cycle.
[:RU]I will start my story about Crimea with an unfinished nuclear power plant, which is located near the city of Kerch. It was this nuclear power plant that could play an important role in the life of the entire Crimean peninsula and become a cheap source of energy for future industries that were planned to be located on the peninsula. Alas, now the nuclear power plant has become just a good source of metal, and, most likely, already for foreign manufacturers.
By chance, I met a man who took an active part in the construction of the station. I forgot to ask his name, his story was so interesting, but I managed to make his photo portrait.
Crimean NPP
“Like after the war, but there was such beauty,” the elderly man said this phrase several times during our conversation. They planned to turn Crimea into a paradise for tourists, and provide local residents with jobs in new industries. From the city of Kerch, they planned to launch trolleybuses right up to Sevastopol itself (now such buses run between Yalta and the nearest villages). For the implementation of all these plans, a sufficient amount of electricity was needed. In 1975, they began to build a nuclear power plant, having previously prepared the satellite town of Shchelkino.
Crimean NPP
By the way, the construction was completed, they even managed to start the reactor, and a polar crane was installed in the building for the installation of heavy equipment. The launch of the station was scheduled for 1989, but ... The 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant left its mark. Only this imprint was imposed not so much on nuclear energy, but on the already undermined economic situation in the country. Here a huge “thank you” must be said to Mikhail Sergeyevich, who received the Nobel Prize for the collapse of the country and now lives happily behind the cordon.
Crimean NPP
Further, the history of the most expensive nuclear power plant in the world went downhill. From 1995 to 1999, the festival "Republic of Kazantip" was held on the territory of the nuclear power plant. Then the East Crimean Energy Company began to sell off the equipment of the power plant. It is not clear why the company was called "Energy Company".
They would be honestly called - "Company for the sale of metal left by the Soviet Union." The remains of the nuclear power plant were transferred to the Council of Ministers of Crimea and, it seems, should be sold in order to invest money in the city of Shchelkino. But the signs with the inscription "private property" make you wonder if a private owner needs to invest in the city of Shchelkino?
Also, during the construction, a unique tower crane was used, one of the largest in the world, with a lifting capacity of 240 tons. It stood until the mid-2000s, after which it was sold for scrap. In the photo, this is the tallest crane. By the way, please note that the engine block attached to the reactor block was built in structures, but at present it is completely destroyed.
And this is already a real steam generator: They did not have time to deliver them to the Crimean nuclear power plant, as well as the reactor. They were brought and laid on the grass.
So they lay there until 2005, when two people came with autogen and turned the reactor into scrap metal in a few days.
In 2005, the reactor was sawn up with autogen, then taken to ferrous metal. From the control rooms, all equipment was also taken out and handed over to ferrous metal. It seems that in a couple of years there will be nothing left of the station at all.
The station has an almost complete twin - the abandoned unfinished Stendal nuclear power plant, 100 km west of Berlin in Germany, built according to the same Soviet project from 1982 to 1990. By the time the construction was stopped, the readiness of the first power unit was 85%. Its only significant difference from the Crimean NPP is the use of cooling towers for cooling, and not reservoirs.
The place where the reactor was to be installed.
Currently, this type of reactor is the most common in its series - 31 operating reactors (out of 54 VVERs), which is 7.1% of the total number of power reactors of all types in operation in the world.
The entrance to the hermetic zone - the hermetic door is long gone.
If someone is going to go there, be sure to take a flashlight and look under your feet, there are a lot of through technical holes in the floor.
Technical openings for cables and communications. The equipment used to be here.
A crane is used for dismantling, and earlier, for construction, another crane was installed - a polar one. It was one of the tallest cranes in the world with a lifting capacity of 240 tons, it was almost 2 times taller than the crane in the photo. The crane was dismantled and sold for use.
In early 2005, the Representative Office of the Crimean Property Fund sold the reactor department of the Crimean NPP for UAH 1.1 million ($207,000) to an undisclosed legal entity. Now the station is continuously working on the dismantling and removal of parts of the block for ferrous metal.
The Crimean NPP was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive nuclear reactor in the world.
From 1995 to 1999, discos of the Republic of KaZantip festival were held in the turbine department. The advertisement read: "Nuclear party in the reactor."
It was planned to use the Aktash reservoir as a cooling pond, on the bank of which the station was built.
The station was supposed to have 2 VVER-1000 reactors with a nominal power of 1000 MW each.
Railway lock, designed primarily to replace nuclear fuel at nuclear power plants. 
We look up from the gateway. A large crane is visible, which once knew how to move in a circle and lift everything up to the reactor itself. 
A place for a reactor, which was never brought here. 
Some kind of mobile transformer, apparently. 
Pit reactor. 
Upward view. Visible faucet and stainless steel walls 
One of several boilers of unknown purpose, most likely part of the reactor cooling system. 
Again stainless steel. 
Spray pools. 
Crimean NPP
Crimean NPP
Crimean NPP
Crimean NPP
Crimean NPP
Crimean NPP
Crimean NPP
Filming, an electronic music festival and parties of extreme athletes - perhaps not a single abandoned construction site of the times of the Soviet Union lived such a rich cultural life. The townspeople took curious tourists to the station, musical equipment was placed in the turbine department, and a crane was used for base jumping - parachuting from towers, bridges and other fixed objects. Now it is difficult to imagine that a quarter of a century ago things could have turned out quite differently.
By 1984, 500 million Soviet rubles were allocated for the creation of the Crimean NPP, and another half of the same amount was spent on building materials. At the time, it was a lot of money. The station even got into the Guinness Book of Records as the world's most expensive nuclear reactor. In fact, at the same time, the Tatar and Bashkir nuclear power plants were being built according to the same project, and the station near Shchelkino became a record holder only because it had the highest readiness for launch. In 1987, when the project was frozen, the first power unit was 80% completed.
It was planned that the station would not only meet the needs of the entire Crimea for electricity, but also lay the foundation for the development of industry on the peninsula - metallurgical, machine-building and chemical. The design capacity of the nuclear power plant was 2000 MW with the possibility of a subsequent increase to 4000 MW. As a cooler, use a natural reservoir - the salty Aktash lake. During construction, channels were dug connecting the lake to the station's reactor.
Dismantling of the Crimean NPP
The fatal year for the Crimean NPP was 1986, when the accident at the Chernobyl NPP occurred - the largest man-made disaster in the history of mankind. After it, the construction of 10 nuclear power plants in the Soviet Union was mothballed. The second reason for the freezing of the grandiose project was the shaken economy of the country. And in 1989, the final decision was made to abandon the launch of nuclear power plants. The property of the station began to be sold, or even completely taken away for ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal.
In September 2003, a unique Danish crane Kroll was sold almost for next to nothing - the same cranes were used in the construction of the Khmelnytsky, Zaporozhye and South Ukrainian nuclear power plants. In Shchelkino, in recent years, it was used only by base jumpers who jumped with a parachute from the lower (80m) and upper (120m) steles.
The station itself became a place of pilgrimage for city residents and tourists who willingly went there, knowing that it did not pose a radiation hazard, because a nuclear reactor was never installed in it. But if you decide to walk through the ruins of one of the largest construction sites of the 20th century, you still cannot forget about caution. You need to carefully look under your feet: there are a lot of through technological holes in the floor. In addition, do not grab the wires with your hands, many of which are still under current.
It is curious that the satellite city of Shchelkino, which was built for the builders and maintenance personnel of the station, managed to survive the closure of the nuclear power plant. Located on the sea, next to the nature reserve, it has become a favorite resort for many.
Crimean NPP - chronology of events
1968— First design calculations
1975- the satellite city of Shchelkino appears
1982— the construction of the Crimean nuclear power plant starts
1987- Project suspended
1989— Closing of the Crimean NPP
1995— The first disco of the festival "Republic of Kazantip" on the territory of the station
year 2001- "Republic of Kazantip" moves to the village of Vesyoloye (the city of Sudak)
2007- several episodes of Fyodor Bondarchuk's film "Inhabited Island" are filmed at an abandoned nuclear power plant.
Alternative energy for the Crimean NPP
Not far from the abandoned station are the remains of an experimental tower-type solar power plant. It began to be built at the same time as the station, it was planned that it would serve as a backup source of electricity for the Crimean nuclear power plant.
The power of the station was supposed to be 5 MW, but the expectations were not met. Contrary to the project, the reflector guidance system consumed 95% of the energy that the station generated, the construction turned out to be pointless.
Crimean NPP in Shchelkino on video
The Crimean nuclear power plant was never completed. It began to be built in 1975. However, in the late 80s, construction was abandoned. Whether the events in Chernobyl, public protests, or simply funding problems influenced this, it probably does not matter now. Be that as it may, the almost finished station was abandoned and will never be completed. By the way, they abandoned not only her, there were several more. And everyone's fate is different. Something was completed, something will be completed, and from some only the foundation remained.
But we have a rather rare opportunity to see how it all could look like, since a number of stations of this type were nevertheless completed.
In the photo - the power unit of the Rovno NPP, and the power unit of the Crimean NPP.
And this is what the main control room looks like. If you look closely, you can see that the instrument panels are almost identical. Of course, there were no liquid crystal monitors in the 80s. Probably in their place was more bulky equipment.
A little bit of theory - how a nuclear power plant works. If you do not go into details, then everything is trite. The reactor is constantly fissile uranium atoms, resulting in the release of heat, which heats the water. This water circulates in a circle (primary circuit) and heats other water outside the reactor (in the second circuit), and this happens inside the steam generators. That, in turn, turns into steam and turns the turbines that turn the generators, and even those then generate electricity. After passing through the turbines, the steam is further cooled to turn it back into water. For cooling, another circuit with cold water taken from the reservoir is used. That is why most nuclear power plants are built near large bodies of water. The general principle is similar to conventional CHP, the main difference is that instead of "firewood" a nuclear reaction is used.
Of course, as elsewhere, it’s simple on the fingers, but in practice everything is insanely complicated, but I think whoever wants to will climb into this jungle himself :)
And here is the schematic, already in relation to the type of reactor in question (VVER-1000). In the center is the reactor itself. The four large cylinders are the steam generators. Conical devices (I circled one of them in red) are pumps that drive water along the primary circuit.
And now, to give an idea of the scale of the entire structure, here is a photograph of one of these pumps compared to a human.
This photo shows a layout of a station of this type:
The cylindrical containment zone, the yellow polar crane, the primary circuit pumps and steam generators are clearly visible. On the floor above the reactor, you can see a little man. To the right of the reactor block is a machine room with turbines.
And this is a real steam generator:
At the Crimean nuclear power plant, they did not have time to deliver, as well as the reactor. They were brought and laid on the grass. So they lay there until 2005, when two people came with autogen and turned the reactor into scrap metal in a few days.
But, during the construction, they managed to install a polar crane. Here it is - a huge colossus under the ceiling of the containment area, from which cables hang. This crane could rotate, moving along the rails along the containment area of the station. I'm afraid to imagine what a roar it was. With the help of this crane, it was planned to install equipment, and in the future, to carry out maintenance of the reactor.
Also, during the construction, a unique tower crane was used, one of the largest in the world, with a lifting capacity of 240 tons. It stood until the mid-2000s, after which it was sold for scrap. In the photo, this is the tallest crane. By the way, please note that the engine block attached to the reactor block was built in structures, but at present it is completely destroyed.
It should be noted that this is not the only nuclear power plant abandoned during the construction phase.
This is how, for example, the power unit (5 and 6 if I'm not mistaken) of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, unfinished for obvious reasons, looks like.
In addition, it should be noted that cases of stopping construction were not only in the USSR. For example, on March 28, 1979, there was an accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, as a result, the construction of the Forked River station was first suspended, and subsequently finally stopped.
The unfinished reactor block of the Stendal NPP, GDR, of the same type as the Crimean NPP, has now been completely dismantled.
Personally, I would not like to give high-profile assessments of such situations. I think this can be considered history. So it was and nothing could be done. Who knows, maybe it's for the better, maybe for the worse. If we talk about the current state of affairs, then of course it is insanely sorry to see how the Crimean nuclear power plant is being destroyed. But, apparently, selling metal is more profitable than, for example, organizing a museum.
Finally, I will give a photo of the Zaporozhye NPP. At this nuclear power plant, as many as 6 power units were built, identical to the Crimean nuclear power plant. It is difficult to imagine the scale of this entire enterprise, while the scale of even one block is amazing.
I did not have a goal to tell everything - you will find this information yourself if you are interested. I have provided only a small part of the information. Photos of the Crimean (except historical) and Chernobyl nuclear power plants are mine, the rest are taken from various sources. Below are links to them, and to related information, as well as information for thought. Most of the links are Wikipedia.
UPD: decided to collect information about the real state of unfinished nuclear power plants.
A similar question interested me immediately after visiting the Crimean NPP, several years ago. But then it was difficult to find information on the real state of some nuclear power plants. Now it has become much easier.
Bashkir NPP
Some infrastructure has been built, however, the construction of the reactor block (except for the foundation) has not started. Photo from the mothballed boiler room. The square foundation of the reactor block is visible on the right.
Kostroma NPP/Central NPP
The situation is similar to the previous one, or even worse. In fact, these are just concrete ruins in the forest.
Crimean NPP
See above.
Odessa APEC
Some infrastructure has been built, the construction of the reactor block, apparently, has not begun.
Tatar NPP
A part of the infrastructure has been erected, the construction of the reactor block has begun, but not much has been built, apparently, they have not even reached the start of the construction of the containment area.
Voronezh AST
Probably the most completed project after the Crimean NPP. There are plans to complete the facility. Currently, it is heavily guarded, funds are allocated for conservation.
Gorky AST
Also, pretty much a block built. It is located in a protected area, but the internal state and severity of protection is unknown. There are vague plans to convert to CHP
NPP Belene (Bulgaria)
Construction was frozen, then resumed. At the moment, the status is not known, probably frozen again. However, in any case, the readiness of the facilities is low.
NPP Zharnowiec (Poland)
Construction is frozen, the readiness of facilities is low.
NPP Juragua (Cuba)
One of the blocks has been built almost completely, the second has just begun. These are blocks of a slightly different type than the Crimean NPP (and most other unfinished NPPs). VVER-440 reactor of lower power. Judging by the pictures from space, the station is of great interest, moreover, most likely it is not particularly guarded (although the devil knows what they have there and how). However, unfortunately, due to its remoteness, all this is more theoretical. I will probably look for more information about this station.
NPP Stendal (East Germany)
The reactor block was largely built, but was completely dismantled in the late 2000s.
Loading...