Unfinished Shcholkino nuclear power plant to be demolished in Crimea

18 February 2021


The buildings of the Shcholkino NPP in the Crimea, which was mothballed in the 80s is to be dismantled, according to an order was published on 5 February on the website of the Crimean government.

The order is: "To write off by dismantling the real estate owned by the Republic of Crimea, located at the address: Republic of Crimea, Leninsky District, the city of Shcholkino." 

The plan is to demolish six facilities in an area of 22,140 square metres that ae 70% complete, including a single-cell diesel generator station, a three-cell diesel generator station, a reactor room, a turbine hall with a deaerator stack and rooms for electrical devices, as well as the foundation of the turbine hall of unit 2, half-built, and a pumping room station which is 30% complete.

The plant’s design was based on Russia’s Balakovo NPP but construction was abandoned following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Since then the site has been used for parties, festivals and other public events. In 2020 discussions were underway with investors   about the possibility of developing the site as an amusement park.

Dismantling the facilities of the unfinished nuclear power plant in the city of Shchelkino in the Leninsky district of Crimea will not require the allocation of funds from the republican budget, Daniil Pidayev, head of the department for interaction with organisations in the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Construction, told journalists on 8 February. “Dismantling will be carried out by the unitary enterprise Centre for Integrated Supply of Construction Projects with the involvement of legal entities that are members of self-regulatory organisations in the field of construction," he said.

Pidayev clarified that the decision to demolish the NPP buildings was made due to their unsafe condition and the impossibility of further use. “They have lost their properties, are in a dilapidated state, and there is a threat of collapse,” he added. The work is expected to begin in the coming months and should be completed by the end of the year. During  dismantling, the site will be fenced and guarded. The building materials resulting from the demolition will be taken to the Integrated Supply Centre for further processing. How the territory  will be used after the demolition has not been decided.



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