Żarnowiec Nuclear Power Plant
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The Żarnowiec Nuclear Power Plant () was to be the first
nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...
in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
.''A Country Study: Poland'', Library of Congress, Call Number DK4040 .P57 199

/ref> The construction was cancelled due to changes in the economic and political situation Polish Round Table Agreement, in Poland, in the Soviet Union and in the Eastern Bloc and due to the
Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...
in 1986 and the following years. It was to be located in the former village of
Kartoszyno Kartoszyno is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Krokowa, within Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Krokowa, west of Puck, and north-west of the regional capital Gdańs ...
and had its seat in Nadole.


Planned design

The location of the plant was chosen after several years of hydrological, seismological and demographic research commissioned for the purpose of determining the most suitable location. A site was located in the north of the country near the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
, about 50 km northwest of
Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
, just to the south of its namesake village
Żarnowiec Żarnowiec is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Krokowa, within Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies close to Żarnowieckie Lake, approximately west of Krokowa, north-west of Puck, and north-west ...
, adjacent to Lake Å»arnowiec which was to be used for cooling. The research also identified the site for a second plant in Klempicz in west-central Poland. The plant was planned to occupy 70 ha of land area, while the entire complex with dedicated construction facilities and supporting buildings would take 425 ha. The design incorporated four
VVER The water-water energetic reactor (WWER), or VVER (from ) is a series of pressurized water reactor designs originally developed in the Soviet Union, and now Russia, by OKB Gidropress. The idea of such a reactor was proposed at the Kurchatov Instit ...
-440
pressurized water reactor A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan, India and Canada). In a PWR, water is used both as ...
s of Soviet design produced in
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factories in
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, rated at 440 MWe each, for a combined power rating of 1600
MWe The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kgâ‹…m2â‹…s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named in honor o ...
. The turbines and power generators were to be produced in Poland. An adjacent pumped-storage plant was to act as a load balancer and energy reservoir to ensure continued power delivery during reactor maintenance. Completion of the first reactor block with a power rating of 465 MWe was planned for 1989, with the second one following in 1990. On the last day of 1983 the dates were adjusted to December 1990 and December 1991, respectively. After the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, there were plans to make modifications in order to bring the plant to Western safety standards, as well as install reactor automation equipment from
Siemens AG Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the posit ...
. In addition to 79 buildings of the reactor-housing compound, the complex included a lot of supporting facilities. Before the project was canceled, 630 other structures were completed, including a modern radiometeorology station, housing for the staff, production halls for prefabricated concrete elements, a railroad station, a cafeteria and cloakroom halls. Several domestic and foreign companies were involved in the project.


Timeline

* December 9, 1972 – The Planning Commission approves the localization of the first Polish nuclear plant in the village of Kartoszyno. Shortly thereafter a research outpost is constructed on the site * January 18, 1982 – The Council of Ministers passes a decree regarding the construction of the Żarnowiec Nuclear Power Plant * March 31, 1982 – The construction site is transferred to the main contractor, Energoblok-Wybrzeże; Start of construction work and relocation of the inhabitants of Kartoszyno * December 31, 1983 – The Council of Ministers adjusts the planned dates of completion to December 1990 for block 1 and December 1991 for block 2 * April 10, 1986 –
Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...
passes the first bill (called Nuclear law) regulating the use of nuclear energy in Poland * April 26, 1986 –
Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...
. Escalation of protests against the construction * December 2, 1989 – The cabinet led by
Tadeusz Mazowiecki Tadeusz Mazowiecki (; 18 April 1927 – 28 October 2013) was a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and politician, formerly one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, and the first non-communist Polish prime minister since 1946, hav ...
decides to halt construction work for one year in order to collect opinions and information necessary to decide the fate of the power plant''Capacity Building in National Environmental Policy: A Comparative Study of 17 Countries'' by Martin Jaenicke, Helmut Weidner, 2002, Springer,
Relevant page on Google Book Search
* May 27, 1990 – Referendum in the Gdańsk voivodeship. 86.1% of voters are against continuing the construction, with a turnout of 44.3% * December 17, 1990 – The Council of Ministers initiates the liquidation of the unfinished power plant, set to complete on December 31, 1992


Meteorological Centre

Near the construction site, there was also a centre for meteorological research with a 205 metres high guyed meteorological tower at . While the buildings of the station still exist, but are devastated, the mast is demolished.


Public opposition

There was some official public discussion concerning the localization of the power plant, but it was interrupted by the introduction of
martial law in Poland Martial law in Poland () existed between 13 December 1981 and 22 July 1983. The Polish United Workers' Party, government of the Polish People's Republic drastically restricted everyday life by introducing martial law and a military junta in an a ...
in 1981. Despite this, no organized opposition beyond sending letters to the authorities took place. The protests escalated only after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Ecological organizations were the most active participants. The most prominent local organizations were the Franciscan Ecological Movement, which organized a series of public lectures on the risks of the Żarnowiec power plant, miniconferences in the Gdańsk Scientific Society, and manifestations; and the Gdańsk Economic Forum, an
anti-nuclear The Anti-nuclear war movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, n ...
organization which initiated manifestations at the construction site, conducted leaflet campaigns in the Tricity and sent hundreds of letters to the authorities. Some nationwide organizations such as Ruch Wolność i Pokój joined the protest and were responsible for its most drastic forms, including roadblocks and a 63-day hunger strike. Several public figures spoke against completing the project, including the leader of
Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...
,
Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as the president of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 Polish presidential election, 1990 election, Wałę ...
. Protesters also cited the negative assessment of the plant's security by two employees of the National Atomic Energy Agency. The protests forced the government to hold a local referendum concerning the plant. An initial decision was taken in 1987, but was postponed for political reasons until the local government elections in 1990. The referendum was preceded by an intensive propaganda action by Gdańsk's ecological organizations. Among the information in the disseminated leaflets and posters, there were false claims of the reactors being of the same design as those in Chernobyl, "deep tectonic movements" which would cause the failure of the pumped-storage reservoir and flooding, and supposed inevitable
radioactive contamination Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of Radioactive decay, radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is uni ...
of the lake due to an open-ended cooling system. The results were strongly negative, with 86.1% of voters against completing the power plant. The results were not legally binding, since the turnout was below the threshold, and the construction continued for some time. This caused a second, even more intense wave of opposition, this time predominantly from nearby residents. Using tractors and agricultural equipment for roadblocks, they managed to significantly decrease the pace of work.


Abandonment

The project was finally canceled by the Council of Ministers on September 4, 1990, after the recommendation of the Minister of Industry, Tadeusz Syryjczyk.Tadeusz Syryjczyk, Przesłanki decyzji w przedmiocie likwidacji Elektrowni Jądrowej Żarnowiec.
/ref> He claimed the plant would be redundant in the Polish energy grid, had questionable economy of operation and was of unclear safety. The decision was motivated predominantly by the public outcry and the need to increase political support for the newly formed government, even though the supplied official reasons did not cite them as an important factor. At that time, the supporting infrastructure was almost complete, and the first reactor block was about 40% complete. 44% of the planned budget was already spent, but further expenses unavoidable even if the construction was halted increased the total expenditure to about 84% of the budget.


Aftermath

After the construction was halted, a large amount of specialized equipment was immediately rendered useless. Most of it, including two of the four reactor vessels, were scrapped. The third reactor vessel, along with various other equipment, was bought by a nuclear plant in
Loviisa Loviisa (; ; formerly Degerby) is a town in Finland, located on the southern coast of the country. Loviisa is situated in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Loviisa is approximately , while the Loviisa sub-region, sub-regi ...
in
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
for training purposes. The fourth is located in a training facility for nuclear industry workers in
Paks Paks is a small town in Tolna (county), Tolna county, in the south of Hungary, on the right bank of the Danube River, 100 km south of Budapest. Paks as a former agricultural settlement is now the home of the only Hungarian Paks Nuclear Pow ...
,
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
. The total amount of money recovered was about $6 million, compared to the estimated expenditures of more than $500 million.atom.edu.pl - Elektrownia Jądrowa Żarnowiec
/ref> The local government which took over the buildings was unsuccessful in preventing the already constructed buildings from falling into disrepair. Several of them were looted and devastated. No action was taken to preserve the reactor building; it was flooded with water and is unsuitable for resuming construction. In an attempt to utilize the industrial equipment left behind, in 1993 the Żarnowiec Economic Zone was created, later incorporated into the Pomeranian Special Economic Zone. Among the first businesses started in the zone were a printing house, an agricultural chemicals plant, a pipe factory and a chips factory. However, the initiative had only limited success because of transport issues. The electrified railway line built for the power plant was completely dismantled. This contributed to a lack of interest from prospective investors, and several developments (including a gas power station) were canceled. Currently there are about 20 companies operating in the resettled town of Kartoszyno. Sources close to the proponents of the power plant claim that the losses resulting from mismanagement of the abandoned property could be as high as $2 billion.


Consequences


Environmental impact

The abandonment of the plant meant a large increase in emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants, since electricity in Poland mainly comes from coal. Because the power plant was to incorporate an open-ended cooling system that returned hot water from cooling directly to the Å»arnowiec Lake, the average temperature of the lake was predicted to rise by about 10 Â°C, so that even during winter the surface would not freeze. To prevent the uncontrolled growth of flora in such conditions, an
ecological engineering Ecological engineering uses ecology and engineering to predict, design, construct or restore, and manage ecosystems that integrate " human society with its natural environment for the benefit of both".W.J. Mitsch & S.E. Jorgensen (1989), "Introdu ...
project was started to introduce warm-water herbivore fish species, such as
grass carp The grass carp (''Ctenopharyngodon idella'') is a species of large herbivorous freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae, native to the Pacific Far East, with a native range stretching from northern Vietnam to the Amur River on the Sino-Russian ...
s. As the first phase, to reduce the population of carnivorous species, fishing limits for them were lifted. The regulations were not changed after the construction was abandoned, causing an almost complete depletion of the lake's fishstock. The pumped-storage reservoir now operates as the Żarnowiec Pumped Storage Power Station, the largest pumped-storage plant in Poland. Its operation causes variations in the lake's water level, causing the erosion of soil on its shores.


Legacy

One of the traces of the Żarnowiec Nuclear Power Plant is a special set of tableware emblazoned with the power plant's logo. The meteorogical station operated until its parent company went bankrupt in 2002. Its equipment included a
Plessey The Plessey Company plc was a British electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after World War II by acquisition of companies and formed overseas compani ...
WP3 meteo radar, which was destroyed by scrap metal looters. After a 2004 earthquake in
Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...
, the seismic stability of northern Poland was put in question.


Nuclear energy in Poland after Żarnowiec

At present, the future of nuclear energy in Poland is still an open issue. With growing demand for electricity, the traditional power plants burning coal are generating more and more environmental problems. In 2005, preliminary plans for constructing a nuclear power plant near the special economic zone surfaced. On July 1, 2005, the Ministry of Economy and Labor issued a statement titled ''Energy policy for Poland until 2025'', which included mentions of the need for better public information about nuclear energy associated with 'the possibility of introducing such means of energy generation in Poland'. In 2008, a program called ''Polish energy policy until 2030'' was approved, which outlines plans for two nuclear power plants to be built by 2020. The National Nuclear Energy Agency identified the formerly planned sites at Żarnowiec and Klempicz and 6 alternative locations as the possible choices, along with 5 locations for nuclear waste storage. The Żarnowiec site has the advantage that most of the studies necessary before constructing a power plant have already been done.Elektrownia atomowa może powstać na Pomorzu lub w Wielkopolsc
Gazeta Wyborcza article
/ref> A 2006 poll for the National Atomic Energy Agency found out that 60% accepted the construction of nuclear power plants to reduce the dependency on foreign gas, while 48% were in favor of constructing it near their place of residence if it reduced energy costs. A 2008 poll indicates that over 70% of Poles approved the construction of a nuclear power plant within 100 kilometers of their place of residence, 18% were against, while at the same time 47% stated that Poland should not invest in nuclear energy. The popular Baltic Sea resort
Mielno Mielno ( ; or ) is a resort town in Koszalin County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Mielno. It lies approximately north-west of Koszalin and north-east ...
is one of three sites selected by Polish power company PGE in November 2011 to host a nuclear power station with a capacity of 3 gigawatts. In February 2012, residents voted overwhelmingly against the plan. Some 94 percent of the 2,389 people who took part in a referendum opposed the plant and only 5 percent supported it.


See also

* Żarnowiec Pumped Storage Power Station – a
pumped-storage Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. A PSH system stores energy in the form of gravitational potent ...
plant originally intended only as an energy reservoir and load balancer * List of commercial nuclear reactors#Poland


References


External links


Photo gallery of the unfinished plant buildings, as they appeared in 2006


{{DEFAULTSORT:Żarnowiec Nuclear Power Plant Abandoned places in Poland Buildings and structures in Pomeranian Voivodeship Energy in Poland Nuclear power stations in Poland Puck County Unfinished nuclear reactors