Dnieper River System of Dams

The Dnieper reservoir cascade or Dnieper cascade of hydroelectric power stations ( uk, Дніпровський каскад ГЕС) is a series of dams, reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations on the Dnieper river in Ukraine. It was created to prevent uncontrolled flooding and improve water transportation infrastructure. Coordination and operation of all dams on the Dnieper is conducted by government company Ukrhydroenergo. In 1970, the Kyiv dam partially prevented flooding in comparison with the 1931 Kyiv flooding.

As with any dam, the water reservoirs of the Dnieper in Ukraine pose a significant threat of a large-scale, human-made disaster if their dams fail. Those concerns were raised in particular in connection with the 2009 Sayano–Shushenskaya Dam disaster.

To combat uncontrolled flooding, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine had developed a program of flooding forecasting; however, as of 2012, the Government of Ukraine refused to adopt it.

Infrastructure

Power stations and dams

From source to mouth:
* Kyiv Hydroelectric Station
* Kyiv Hydro-Accumulating Power Station
* Kaniv Hydroelectric Station
* Kremenchuk Hydroelectric Station
* Middle Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Plant
* Dnieper Hydroelectric Station
* Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station

Water reservoirs

From source to mouth:
* Kyiv
* Kaniv
* Kremenchuk
* Kamianske
* Dnieper
* Kakhovka

Concerns

Like other reservoirs, Dnieper reservoirs pose a potential threat of causing major flooding if their dams fail. Such damage may be inflicted by a powerful natural disaster (e.g., an earthquake), a human-made disaster, or a deliberate attack by terrorists or enemy (or even own military) forces at war.

The Dnieper reservoirs contain an additional major threat—after the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in 1986, radionuclides washed away by rains badly contaminated the bottom silt of the Kyiv Reservoir and presumably the others. During the years following the disaster, there were suggestions to drain the Kyiv Reservoir because it was too shallow.

The dams are supposed to be strong enough to survive natural and terrorist threats. Both their construction schemes and government efforts work towards this goal. For instance, some engineers guarantee that every Dnieper dam will survive an earthquake (to its typical regional extent), meteorite or aircraft falling."The dam of the Kyiv's power plant will be around for a thousand of years", - the chief engineer of the "Skhema Dnepra" he "Pattern of the Dnieper river"institution Yefim Bakshayev seems to be tired of repeating those words. "The catastrophe is possible if it is directly hit by the nuclear bomb. I think that no one would then be around to be saved from flooding. Yes, the accidents are possible at peace time if the metallic structures of the dam are not replaced on time. But this is taken care of for the Kyiv dam. Besides, in the Netherlands, one third of the country spans across the territories gained from the sea. People build the reservoirs there for 400 years and no one is afraid of this proximity. Most important is to build the dam competently, provide it with modern equipment and follow on its operation ..The capital is fully protected from flooding"
Lyudmila Kovalchuk, '
Kiev Reservoir: where the radioactive silt is now there were 52 villages
"'', ''Segodnya'', March 23, 2005. There are also countermeasures against overflooding and malfunction of dams. Authorities pay significant attention to safeguarding the dams and bridges by special units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other security agencies. Ю. П. Сурмін, Р. Н. Аврамчук
СТРУКТУРИ, ЗАСОБИ І СТРАТЕГІЯ РОЗВ'ЯЗАННЯ ПРОБЛЕМ НАЦІОНАЛЬНОЇ БЕЗПЕКИ
(Framework, means and strategy of the state security.), b
National Institute of State Security
, Ukrainian governmental agency.

A failure of the Kyiv Reservoir would cause a flooding of the low-lying areas of Kyiv, mainly densely populated residential neighborhoods. Zoya Vishnevskaya "Before the thunder Rolls".''Zerkalo Nedeli