Second Russian National Dialogue On Energy, Society And Security

Second Russian National Dialogue on ENERGY, SOCIETY AND SECURITYlack of willingness and ability to see the broader issues (8, 9).This applies right at the start of the process when sites are selected for nuclearpower plants and other dangerous nuclear installations. There is hardly any need to repeatagain how inappropriate the choice of site for the vast majority of Russian nuclearinstallations was, including that of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, when they were‘bound’ to geological faults and sinkholes. Many geological and environmental errorswere committed in connection with the emission of nuclear waste into hydrologic networksor the pumping of nuclear waste into underground geologic formations. All themore so if the subject of the results of ‘peaceful’ nuclear explosions (approximately190) is addressed, which were aimed at creating underground reservoirs for pumpingliquefied gas, petroleum or the same liquid nuclear waste. All of these projects endedin the radionuclide pollution of significant portions of surface water and ground waterwatersheds (10).An analysis of the reasons for the errors committed in the construction of nuclearenergy installations shows that errors are various, with each covering a range of stagesin the creation and implementation of nuclear installations. The main reason for the tensionbetween the designers of technologies and their subsequent implementation in thenatural environment (more broadly, the biosphere), was that technical specialists eitherignored or were ignorant of the structure and functioning of the biosphere. More oftenthan not, this was a failure to understand that man-made, often dangerous radioactiveobjects, occupy the space-time of the biosphere and its natural ecosystems together withthe original inhabitants. The safety of organisms, and mankind itself, depends on theextent to which these objects are in harmony with the biosphere and its structure.Man-made disasters, particularly at nuclear energy and chemical installations,which are not an inherent part of the biosphere and its organization and its dynamicbalance, which has evolved over billions of years, are due to the lack of considerationgiven by the technical world to the fundamental achievements and laws formulated bynatural science and our understanding of the biosphere. Karl Ernst von Baer, one of theoutstanding Russian scientists of the 19th century, has the following words which arehighly relevant in today’s world: “Widespread knowledge of the natural sciences is ofessential importance for Russia in the development of many industries.”The biosphere and its microorganisms, soil, natural gases, water, flora and fauna,climate and penetrating radiation constantly “digests” invading foreign objects. However,the ‘answer’ of the Earth is often not appropriate, often resulting in catastrophicconsequences for construction and transport systems and numerous human victims. Inspite of the seeming fragility of the biosphere, thanks to its structure it is actually a stablesystem with many degrees of freedom. At the same time, the degree of freedom offeredto man-made objects is vanishingly small in comparison with that afforded to any naturallyoccurring object. And the larger a multi-functional man-made object (a nuclearpower plant, a nuclear submarine, a space station) or a radioactive installation that posesa threat, the higher the likelihood of catastrophic events developing.The number of industrial production facilities in the world is growing steadily,and many installations currently in use were constructed using old technologies and areno longer fail-safe. Therefore, an increase in the number of man-made disasters can beforecast over the next two to three decades. The issue of integrating nuclear energy andother radioactive installations which could pose a threat into the biosphere is of crucial98