The Nurek Dam (russian: Нурекская ГЭС; Tajik: Нерӯгоҳи обии Норак, ''Nerūgohi obii Norak'', Tajik for Nurek Hydro-electric Station) is an earth-fill

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface an ...

on the

Vakhsh River The Vakhsh ( Russian and Tajik: Вахш - ''Vaxsh'', fa, وخش), also known as the Surkhob (Сурхоб, سرخاب), in north-central Tajikistan, and the Kyzyl-Suu ( ky, Кызыл-Суу), in Kyrgyzstan, is a Central Asian river, and one o ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

. Its primary purpose is

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

power generation and its power station has an installed capacity of 3,015 MW. Construction of the dam began in 1961 and the power station's first generator was commissioned in 1972. The last generator was commissioned in 1979 and the entire project was completed in 1980 when Tajikistan was still a

republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

within the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, becoming the tallest dam in the world at the time. At , it is currently the second tallest man-made dam in the world, after being surpassed by Jinping-I Dam in 2013. The Rogun Dam, also along the Vakhsh in Tajikistan, may exceed it in size when completed.

Construction

Tetradrachm Euthydemus II obverse NMAT RN474-2

The Nurek Dam was constructed by the Soviet Union between the years 1961 and 1980. It is uniquely constructed, with a central core of

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel (aggregate) together. Cement mixe ...

forming an impermeable barrier within a -high rock and earth fill construction. The volume of the mound is 54 million m³. The dam includes nine

generating units, the first commissioned in 1972 and the last in 1979. An estimated 5,000 people were resettled from the dam's flooding area. The dam is located in a deep gorge along the Vakhsh River in western Tajikistan, about east of the nation's capital of

Dushanbe Dushanbe ( tg, Душанбе, ; ; russian: Душанбе) is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 863,400 and that population was largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe (ru ...

. A town near the dam, also called Nurek, houses

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

s and other workers employed at the dam's

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

Electricity generation

A total of nine

Francis turbine The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts. Francis turbines are the most common water turbine in use today, and can achieve over 95% efficiency. The proc ...

-generators are installed in the Nurek Dam's power station. Originally having a generating capacity of 300 MW each (2,700 MW total), they were redesigned and retrofitted between 1984 and 1988 so now have a capacity of 335 MW each (3,015 MW total). As of 1994, this formed most of the nation's 4.0 gigawatt hydroelectric generating capacity, which was adequate to meet 98% of the nation's electricity needs.

Reservoir

The

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

formed by the Nurek Dam, known simply as Nurek, is the largest reservoir in Tajikistan with a capacity of 10.5 km³. The reservoir is over in length, and has a surface area of . The reservoir drives the hydroelectric plant located within the dam. Stored water is also used for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

land. Irrigation water is transported 14 kilometers through the ''Dangara irrigation tunnel'' and is used to irrigate about of farmland. It is suspected that the reservoir may have caused

induced seismicity Induced seismicity is typically minor earthquakes and tremors that are caused by human activity that alters the stresses and strains on Earth's crust. Most induced seismicity is of a low magnitude. A few sites regularly have larger quakes, such a ...

when being impounded.

References

* {{supertall Hydroelectric power stations in Tajikistan Lakes of Tajikistan Hydroelectric power stations built in the Soviet Union Dams completed in 1980 Dams on the Vakhsh River Dams in Tajikistan Khatlon Region Energy infrastructure completed in 1979 Earth-filled dams Districts of Republican Subordination