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Zaporozhye

City, Country
Energodar/Zaporozhye, Ukraine

Number & type of Reactors
6x VVER-1000 all operating

Net Electric Power as % in 92 of national total
4750 MWe 16.75% of national total

Major population Centers in a 150 km radius and
total estimated population of 150 km r. region
Approximately 5 million, including Dnepropetrovsk

Date of commercial operation start up
or (if unfinished) date of construction start.
Startup dates: 1985, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1995

Operator/Builder
UKRATOMENERGOPROM - operator

Accidents and Dangers:

In March 1991, there was a significant registered rise of back-ground radiation level in the industrial site area and the nearest village of Michurino. The plant also suffers from reoccurring cabling fires. In May '93, a fire occurred in the 5th unit; one person died from this accident.

Local Contact Group:

The Nikopol Green Party - Attn:Yuriy Babinin
Apt.27, 54A Pravda Str.
Nikopol, 322919 Ukraine
ph/fax: (05662) 34563, tel 94144

Key Arguments/History

The plant has been placed in a highly potential flooding area. The designers of Zaporozhye did not have access to secret information concerning flooding scenarios until 1992. Despite international safety recommendations which suggest a maximum of 4 units at one site, Zaporozhye has a concentration of 6 nuclear units, thus the largest in Europe. Ukrainian requirements on population density within the 25km zone are in violation. Zaporozhye, like all Ukrainian plants, have low quality equipment and do not meet the current Ukrainian "General regulations on NPP’s safety," which, incidentally, are lower than most international requirements and recommendations in many respects. The people in the region have voted against different aspects of the plants operation in local referendums, these votes are routinely ignored by the plant and the national government.

Alternatives:

The primary alternative to Zaporozhye is the Zaporozhye Heat Power Plant which is situated within the same region. Other alternatives, which may be used throughout the Ukraine include: wind power, small scale hydro electric power stations, and, most importantly, energy efficiency. Wind power in Ukraine could rapidly displace the present output of the Chernobyl-like stations by ten times. Small scale hydro electric power stations, if fully exploited, could produce more electricity than all the present power stations. Also, the potential for energy efficiency is massive; in the Ukraine, energy use per unit of Gross National Product is 8-10 times higher than in the Western Europe. The capturing of this energy saving potential is crucial not only for the environment but for the country’s economy.