Everyone has heard about the main disadvantage of nuclear power plants - the severe consequences of accidents at nuclear power plants. Tens of thousands of dead and many fatally ill people, powerful radiation exposure affecting the health of a person and his descendants, cities that have become uninhabitable... the list, unfortunately, can be continued endlessly. Thank heavens that accidents are rare; the vast majority of nuclear power plants in the world have been operating successfully for decades without ever encountering system failures.

Today, nuclear energy is one of the fastest growing areas in world science. Let's try to move away from the persistent myth that nuclear power plants are a danger of nuclear disasters and learn about the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power plants as sources of electricity. In what ways are nuclear power plants superior to thermal and hydroelectric power plants? What are the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power plants? Is it worth developing this area of ​​electricity production? About all this and more...

Did you know that you can get electricity using an ordinary potato, lemon or indoor flower? All you need is a nail and copper wire. But potatoes and lemons, of course, will not be able to supply electricity to the whole world. Therefore, since the 19th century, scientists began to master methods of generating electricity using generation.

Generation is the process of converting various types of energy into electrical energy. The generation process takes place in power plants. Today there are many types of generation.

You can get electricity today in the following ways:

1. Thermal power engineering – electricity is produced through the thermal combustion of organic fuel. To put it simply, oil and gas burn, release heat, and the heat heats the steam. Pressurized steam causes the electric generator to rotate, and the electric generator produces electricity. Thermal power plants in which this process occurs are called thermal power plants.
2. Nuclear energy - the operating principle of nuclear power plants(nuclear power plants that receive electricity using nuclear installations) is very similar to the operation of thermal power plants. The only difference is that heat is obtained not from the combustion of organic fuel, but from the fission of atomic nuclei in a nuclear reactor.
3. Hydropower – in the case of hydroelectric power plants(hydroelectric power plants), electrical energy is obtained from the kinetic energy of water flow. Have you ever seen waterfalls? This method of generating energy is based on the power of waterfalls that rotate the rotors of electric generators that produce electricity. Of course, waterfalls are not natural. They are created artificially using natural river flows. By the way, not so long ago scientists found out that the sea current is much more powerful than the river current, and there are plans to build offshore hydroelectric power stations.
4. Wind energy - in this case, the kinetic energy of the wind powers the electric generator. Remember the mills? They fully reflect this operating principle.
5. Solar energy - in solar energy, the heat from the sun's rays serves as the conversion platform.
6. Hydrogen energy – electricity is produced by burning hydrogen. Hydrogen is burned, it releases heat, and then everything happens according to the scheme already known to us.
7. Tidal energy - what is used to produce electricity in this case? The energy of the sea tides!
8. Geothermal energy is the production of first heat and then electricity from the natural heat of the Earth. For example, in volcanic areas.

Disadvantages of alternative energy sources

Nuclear, hydro and thermal power plants are the main sources of electricity in the modern world. What are the advantages of nuclear power plants, hydroelectric power plants and thermal power plants? Why aren't we warmed by wind energy or tidal energy? Why did scientists not like hydrogen or the natural heat of the Earth? There are reasons for this.

Wind, solar and tidal energies are usually called alternative due to their rare use and very recent appearance. And also due to the fact that the wind, sun, sea and heat of the Earth are renewable, and the fact that a person uses the solar heat or the sea tide will not cause any harm to either the sun or the tide. But don’t rush to run and catch the waves, not everything is so easy and rosy.

Solar energy has significant disadvantages - the sun shines only during the day, so at night you won’t get any energy from it. This is inconvenient, because... The main peak in electricity consumption occurs in the evening hours. At different times of the year and in different places on Earth, the sun shines differently. Adapting to it is costly and difficult.

Wind and waves are also capricious phenomena; they blow and tide when they want, but not when they want. But if they work, they do it slowly and weakly. Therefore, wind and tidal energy have not yet become widespread.

Geothermal energy is a complex process because... It is possible to build power plants only in zones of tectonic activity, where maximum heat can be “squeezed” out of the ground. How many places with volcanoes do you know? Here are some scientists. Therefore, geothermal energy will most likely remain narrowly focused and not particularly efficient.

Hydrogen energy is the most promising. Hydrogen has a very high combustion efficiency and its combustion is absolutely environmentally friendly, because combustion product is distilled water. But, there is one thing. The process of producing pure hydrogen costs an incredible amount of money. Do you want to pay millions for electricity and hot water? Nobody wants. We wait, hope and believe that scientists will soon find a way to make hydrogen energy more accessible.

Nuclear energy today

According to various sources, nuclear energy today provides from 10 to 15% of electricity worldwide. 31 countries use nuclear energy. The largest amount of research in the field of electric power is carried out on the use of nuclear energy. It is logical to assume that the advantages of nuclear power plants are clearly great if, of all types of electricity production, this is the one that is developed.

At the same time, there are countries that refuse to use nuclear energy and close all existing nuclear power plants, for example, Italy. On the territory of Australia and Oceania, nuclear power plants did not exist and do not exist in principle. Austria, Cuba, Libya, North Korea and Poland have stopped the development of nuclear power plants and temporarily abandoned plans to create nuclear power plants. These countries do not pay attention to the advantages of nuclear power plants and refuse to install them primarily for safety reasons and the high costs of constructing and operating nuclear power plants.

The leaders in nuclear energy today are the USA, France, Japan and Russia. It was they who appreciated the advantages of nuclear power plants and began to introduce nuclear energy into their countries. The largest number of nuclear power plant projects under construction today belong to the People's Republic of China. About 50 more countries are actively working on the introduction of nuclear energy.

Like all methods of generating electricity, nuclear power plants have advantages and disadvantages. Speaking about the advantages of nuclear power plants, we should note the environmental friendliness of production, the refusal to use fossil fuels and the ease of transporting the necessary fuel. Let's look at everything in more detail.

Advantages of nuclear power plants over thermal power plants

The advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power plants depend on what type of electricity generation we compare nuclear energy with. Since the main competitors of nuclear power plants are thermal power plants and hydroelectric power stations, let us compare the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power plants in relation to these types of energy production.

TPPs, that is, thermal power plants, are of two types:

1. Condensing or briefly CESs serve only to produce electricity. By the way, their other name comes from the Soviet past, IESs are also called GRESs - short for “state district power plant”.
   2. Combined heat and power plants or CHP plants only allow producing not only electrical, but also thermal energy. Taking, for example, a residential building, it is clear that CES will only provide electricity to the apartments, and CHP will also provide heating in addition.

As a rule, thermal power plants operate on cheap organic fuel - coal or coal dust and fuel oil. The most popular energy resources today are coal, oil and gas. According to experts, the world's coal reserves will last for another 270 years, oil – for 50 years, gas – for 70. Even a schoolchild understands that 50-year reserves are very small and must be protected, and not burned in furnaces every day.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW:

Nuclear power plants solve the problem of shortage of organic fuel. The advantage of nuclear power plants is the elimination of fossil fuels, thereby preserving endangered gas, coal and oil. Instead, nuclear power plants use uranium. World uranium reserves are estimated at 6,306,300 tons. No one is counting how many years it will last, because... There are a lot of reserves, uranium consumption is quite small, and there is no need to think about its disappearance yet. In extreme cases, if uranium reserves are suddenly carried away by aliens or they evaporate on their own, plutonium and thorium can be used as nuclear fuel. Converting them into nuclear fuel is still expensive and difficult, but it is possible.

The advantages of nuclear power plants over thermal power plants include a reduction in the amount of harmful emissions into the atmosphere.

What is released into the atmosphere during the operation of thermal power plants and thermal power plants and how dangerous it is:

1. Sulfur dioxide or sulfur dioxide– a dangerous gas that is harmful to plants. If ingested in large quantities, it causes coughing and suffocation. When combined with water, sulfur dioxide turns into sulfurous acid. It is thanks to sulfur dioxide emissions that there is a risk of acid rain, which is dangerous for nature and humans.
   2. Nitrogen oxides– dangerous to the respiratory system of humans and animals, irritating the respiratory tract.
   3. Benapyrene– is dangerous because it tends to accumulate in the human body. Long-term exposure may cause malignant tumors.

The total annual emissions of thermal power plants per 1000 MW of installed capacity are 13 thousand tons per year at gas and 165 thousand tons at pulverized coal thermal stations. A thermal power plant with a capacity of 1000 MW per year consumes 8 million tons of oxygen to oxidize fuel; the advantages of nuclear power plants are that in nuclear energy oxygen is not consumed in principle.

The above emissions are also not typical for nuclear power plants. The advantage of nuclear power plants is that emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere at nuclear power plants are negligible and, compared to emissions from thermal power plants, are harmless.

The advantages of nuclear power plants over thermal power plants are low fuel transportation costs. Coal and gas are extremely expensive to transport to factories, while the uranium needed for nuclear reactions can be placed in one small truck.

Disadvantages of nuclear power plants over thermal power plants

1. The disadvantages of nuclear power plants over thermal power plants are, first of all, the presence of radioactive waste. They try to recycle radioactive waste at nuclear plants as much as possible, but they cannot dispose of it at all. The final waste at modern nuclear power plants is processed into glass and stored in special storage facilities. Whether they will ever be used is still unknown.
   2. The disadvantages of nuclear power plants are their low efficiency compared to thermal power plants. Since processes in thermal power plants occur at higher temperatures, they are more productive. This is still difficult to achieve in nuclear power plants, because zirconium alloys, which indirectly participate in nuclear reactions, cannot withstand extremely high temperatures.
   3. The general problem of heat and nuclear power plants stands apart. The disadvantage of nuclear power plants and thermal power plants is thermal pollution of the atmosphere. What does it mean? When generating nuclear energy, a large amount of thermal energy is released, which is released into the environment. Thermal pollution of the atmosphere is a problem of today, it entails many problems such as the creation of heat islands, changes in microclimate and, ultimately, global warming.

Modern nuclear power plants already solve the problem of thermal pollution and use their own artificial pools or cooling towers (special cooling towers for cooling large volumes of hot water) to cool water.

Advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power plants over hydroelectric power plants

The advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power plants over hydroelectric power plants are mainly related to the dependence of hydroelectric power stations on natural resources. More about this...

1. The advantage of nuclear power plants over hydroelectric power plants is the theoretical possibility of building new nuclear power plants, while most rivers and reservoirs capable of working for the benefit of hydroelectric power plants are already occupied. That is, the opening of new hydroelectric power stations is difficult due to the lack of necessary places.
   2. The next advantage of nuclear power plants over hydroelectric power plants is their indirect dependence on natural resources. Hydroelectric power plants directly depend on the natural reservoir, nuclear power plants only indirectly on uranium mining, everything else is provided by the people themselves and their inventions.

The disadvantages of nuclear power plants compared to water stations are insignificant - the resources that a nuclear power plant uses for a nuclear reaction, and specifically uranium fuel, are not renewable. While the amount of water, the main renewable resource of a hydroelectric power station, will not change in any way from the operation of a hydroelectric power station, and uranium itself cannot be restored in nature.

Nuclear power plants: advantages and disadvantages

We examined in detail the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power plants over other methods of generating electricity.

“But what about radioactive emissions from nuclear power plants? It is impossible to live near nuclear power plants! Is it dangerous!" - you say. “Nothing like that,” statistics and the world scientific community will answer you.

According to statistical comparative estimates carried out in different countries, it is noted that the mortality rate from diseases that appeared from exposure to emissions from thermal power plants is higher than the mortality rate from diseases that developed in the human body from the leakage of radioactive substances.

Actually, all radioactive substances are firmly locked in storage facilities and are waiting for the hour when they will learn to reprocess and use them. Such substances are not released into the atmosphere; the level of radiation in populated areas near nuclear power plants is no more than the traditional level of radiation in large cities.

Speaking about the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power plants, one cannot help but recall the cost of building and launching a nuclear power plant. The estimated cost of a small modern nuclear power plant is 28 billion euros, experts say that the cost of thermal power plants is approximately the same, no one wins here. However, the advantages of nuclear power plants will be lower costs for the purchase and disposal of fuel - uranium, although more expensive, can “work” for more than a year, while coal and gas reserves must be constantly replenished.

Accidents at nuclear power plants

Previously, we did not mention only the main disadvantages of nuclear power plants, which are known to everyone - these are the consequences of possible accidents. Accidents at nuclear power plants are classified according to the INES scale, which has 7 levels. Level 4 and higher accidents pose a risk of exposure to the population.

Only two accidents in history were assessed at the maximum level 7 - the Chernobyl disaster and the accident at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant. One accident was considered level 6, this is the Kyshtym accident, which occurred in 1957 at the Mayak chemical plant in the Chelyabinsk region.

Of course, the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power plants pale in comparison with the possibility of nuclear disasters that claim the lives of many people. But the advantages of nuclear power plants today are an improved safety system, which almost completely eliminates the possibility of accidents, because The operating algorithm of nuclear reactors is computerized and with the help of computers, reactors are switched off in case of minimal violations.

The advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power plants are taken into account when developing new models of nuclear power plants that will operate on processed nuclear fuel and uranium, the deposits of which have not previously been put into operation.

This means that the main advantages of nuclear power plants today are the prospects for their modernization, improvement and new inventions in this area. It seems that the most important advantages of nuclear power plants will be revealed a little later, we hope that science will not stand still, and very soon we will learn about them.

ADVANTAGES OF HPP:

Flexibility

Hydropower is a flexible source of electricity because hydroelectric power plants can very quickly adapt to changing energy demands, increasing or decreasing electricity production. A hydraulic turbine has a startup time of the order of several minutes. It takes 60 to 90 seconds to bring the device from cold start to full load; this is much less than for gas turbines or steam plants. Electricity production can also be quickly reduced when there is excess power.

Ffestiniog power station can produce 360 ​​MW in 60 seconds

Low energy costs

The main advantage of hydroelectric power is the absence of fuel costs. The cost of operating a hydroelectric power plant is almost immune to increases in the cost of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas or coal, and no imports are required. The average cost of electricity from a hydroelectric power plant larger than 10 megawatts is 3 to 5 US cents per kilowatt-hour.

Hydroelectric power plants have a long service life, some hydroelectric power plants still provide electricity after 50-100 years of operation.

Operational maintenance costs are low, few people are required to control the operation of the hydroelectric power station.

The dam can be used for several purposes at once: accumulate water for hydroelectric power stations, protect territories from floods, create a reservoir.

Suitability for industrial use

While many hydroelectric dams supply energy to public utility networks, some are created to serve specific industrial plants. For example, in New Zealand, a power station was built to supply electricity to the Tiwai Point aluminum smelter.

Reduced CO 2 emissions

Hydroelectric power plants do not burn fossil fuels and do not directly produce carbon dioxide. Although some carbon dioxide is generated during the production and construction process of the project. According to research by Paul Scherrer from the University of Stuttgart, hydropower produces the least carbon dioxide among other energy sources. Wind was in second place, nuclear energy was third, solar energy was in 4th place.

Other uses of the reservoir

Hydroelectric reservoirs often provide opportunities for water sports and become tourist attractions themselves. In some countries, aquaculture in reservoirs is common. Water from reservoirs can be used to irrigate crops, and fish can be raised in it. Dams also help prevent flooding.

DISADVANTAGES OF HYDRO POWER PLANT:

Ecosystem damage and land loss

The large reservoirs required to operate hydroelectric dams flood vast areas of land upstream from the dam, destroying forest valleys and swamps. Land loss is often compounded by habitat destruction in the surrounding areas occupied by the reservoir.
Hydroelectric power plants can lead to the destruction of ecosystems, as water passing through turbinescleared of natural sediments. Hydroelectric power stations on large rivers are especially dangerous, as they lead to serious changes in the environment.

The photo shows a reservoir resulting from the construction of a dam.

Siltation

When water flows, heavier particles float downstream.
This has a negative impact on dams and subsequently their power plants, especially on rivers or in catchments with high levels of siltation. Silt can fill the reservoir and reduce its ability to control floods, causing additional horizontal pressure on the dam. Reducing the river bed can lead to a decrease in electricity production. In addition, even a hot summer or low rainfall can lead to a decrease in the river.

Methane emissions (from reservoirs)

Hydroelectric power plants in tropical regions have the greatest impact; reservoirs of power plants in tropical regions produce significant amounts of methane. This is due to the presence of plant material in flooded areas that decays in an anaerobic environment and produces methane and a greenhouse gas. According to the report of the World Commission on Dams, in cases where the reservoir is large compared to the generating capacity (less than 100 watts per square meter of surface area) and the forests in the area of ​​the reservoir have not been cleared. Then greenhouse gas emissions in the reservoir may be higher than those of a conventional thermal power plant.

Novosibirsk State University

Graduate College of Informatics

Abstract on life safety

Topic: “Safety and environmental friendliness of hydropower”

Student: Kisarova Valentina

Group: 803C

Teacher: Khegay E.G.

Introduction

Energy is divided into traditional and non-traditional. Traditional energy is based on the use of fossil fuels or nuclear fuel and water energy from large rivers. It is divided into thermal power engineering, electric power engineering, nuclear power engineering and hydropower engineering.

For many millennia, the energy contained in flowing water has served man faithfully. Its reserves on Earth are colossal. It is not without reason that some scientists believe that it would be more correct to call our planet not Earth, but Water - after all, about three-quarters of the planet’s surface is covered with water. The World Ocean serves as a huge energy accumulator, absorbing most of it coming from the Sun. Waves splash here, tides ebb and flow, and powerful ocean currents arise. Mighty rivers are born, carrying huge masses of water into the seas and oceans. It is clear that humanity, in its search for energy, could not pass by such gigantic reserves. First of all, people learned to use the energy of rivers.

The invention of the steam engine seemed to stop the centuries-long triumphal march of water wheels. Small chugging engines that could be installed anywhere, not just on the river bank, set in motion machine tools and forge hammers and fulling mills, and even encroached on the eternal purpose of water wheels - to irrigate fields. One after another, the giant water wheels were scrapped; it seemed that the centuries-old history of water energy was nearing its end. But when the golden age of electricity arrived, the water wheel was revived, albeit in a different guise - in the form of a water turbine. Electric generators that produced energy needed to be rotated, and water could do this quite successfully.

A little history

Hydropower, as well as solar energy, has been used for a very long time. Mention of the use of water energy in water mills for grinding grain and blowing air when smelting metal dates back to the end of the 2nd century. BC e. Over the centuries, water wheels have increased in size and efficiency. In the 11th century in England and France there was one mill for every 250 people. At this time, the scope of application of mills expanded. They began to be used in the cloth production, brewing beer, sawing wood, for operating pumps, and in oil mills. Modern hydropower can be considered to have been born in 1891. This year, the Russian engineer Mikhail Osipovich Dolivo-Dobrovolsky, who emigrated to Germany due to “political unreliability,” was supposed to demonstrate the alternating current motor he invented at the electrical exhibition in Frankfurt am Main. This engine, with a power of about 100 kilowatts in the era of the dominance of direct electric current, itself should have become the highlight of the exhibition, but the inventor decided to build a completely unexpected structure for its power at that time - a hydroelectric power station. In the small town of Lauffen, Dolivo-Dobrovolsky installed a three-phase current generator, which was rotated by a small water turbine. Electrical energy was transmitted to the exhibition territory via transmission lines that were incredibly long for those years, 175 kilometers long (nowadays transmission lines thousands of kilometers long do not surprise anyone, but at that time such construction was unanimously recognized as impossible). Just a few years before this event, the most prominent English engineer and physicist Osborne Reynolds, in his Cantor Lectures, seemingly irrefutably proved that when transmitting energy by means of transmission, the energy loss is only 1.4% per mile, while when transmitting electric energy losses along wires over the same distance will be 6%. Based on experimental data, he concluded that when using electric current at the other end of the transmission line, it is unlikely that it will be possible to have more than 15-20% of the initial power. At the same time, he believed, you can be sure that when energy is transferred by the drive cable, 90% of the power will be retained. This “indisputable” conclusion was successfully refuted by the work of the first-born hydroelectric power industry in Lauffen.

But the era of hydropower had not yet arrived. The advantages of hydroelectric power plants are obvious - a supply of energy constantly renewed by nature itself, ease of operation, and lack of environmental pollution. And the experience of building and operating water wheels could be of great help to hydropower engineers. However, building a dam for a large hydroelectric power station turned out to be a much more difficult task than building a small dam to turn a mill wheel. To drive powerful hydraulic turbines, you need to accumulate a huge supply of water behind the turbine. To build a dam, it is necessary to lay down so much material that the volume of the giant Egyptian pyramids will seem insignificant in comparison. Therefore, at the beginning of the twentieth century, only a few hydroelectric power plants were built. This was just the beginning. The development of hydropower resources was carried out at a rapid pace, and in the 30s of the twentieth century, the implementation of such large projects as the Hoover hydroelectric power station in the USA with a capacity of 1.3 Gigowatts was completed. The construction of such powerful hydroelectric power plants caused an increase in energy use in industrialized countries, and this, in turn, gave impetus to programs for the development of large hydropower potentials.

Currently, the use of water energy is still relevant, and the main direction is the production of electricity.

Hydropower - pros and cons

Hydroelectric power plants, or HPPs for short, are built primarily on large rivers. And they have a lot of positive and negative sides.

The positive ones include the fact that they use renewable natural resources, “save” fuel resources (including money for their extraction and transportation), require 15-20 times less maintenance personnel than thermal power plants (thermal power plants), significant Efficiency (over 80%), low cost (5-6 times less than thermal power plants), allow you to regulate water flow, protect adjacent areas from catastrophic floods, improve conditions for navigation of the country (territory), and create conditions for the development of mass cultural recreation.

The disadvantages include 100% attachment to large rivers, flooding of a significant part of the land (meadows, forested settlements), a gradual change in the microclimate of the surrounding areas, herds of valuable fish are declining, and blue-green algae are developing.

Another representative of hydroelectric power plants are pumped storage power plants or pumped storage power plants, which are built only in the largest industrial densely populated areas where a large number of electricity consumers are located. They significantly reduce the problem of shortage of electricity (especially during the daytime), are built mainly on artificial reservoirs, therefore cause minor harm to the surrounding flora and fauna, are justified in terms of financial costs, but are economically unprofitable (unprofitable), because During their work, they consume slightly more electricity than they produce themselves.

When using hydropower resources, the environmental aspect is very important. Hydropower resources are the energy reserves of the flowing water of river streams and reservoirs located above sea level (as well as the energy of sea tides). The construction of hydroelectric power stations in many cases is accompanied by the construction of reservoirs, which sometimes have a negative impact on the environmental situation and introduce a number of changes to nature. The hydropower industry of the future should, with minimal negative impact on the natural environment, maximally satisfy people's needs for electricity. Therefore, today more and more attention is being paid to the problems of preserving the natural and social environment during hydraulic engineering construction. In modern conditions, a correct forecast of the consequences of such construction is especially important. The result of the forecast should be recommendations for mitigating and overcoming unfavorable environmental situations during the construction of hydroelectric power stations, a comparative assessment of the environmental efficiency of created or designed hydroelectric power stations. Thus, we can talk about the feasibility of forming a new, narrower and more complex category of hydropower resources - an environmentally effective part, differentiated by the degree of environmental load caused by the use of a certain share of hydropower potential. Unfortunately, at the moment, there is practically no development of methods for determining environmental energy potential, but it is obvious that the development of hydropower without detailed environmental assessments of hydropower projects can undermine the already fragile ecological balance in the world.

In the wake of interest in renewable energy sources around the world, hydroelectric dams are being built here and there, some of them are amazing in their grandeur. But while paying tribute to bold engineering solutions, it should be remembered that the huge masses of water held by dams are fraught with terrible destructive power.

Hydropower facilities have a significant impact on the natural environment. This influence is local. However, the construction of cascades of large reservoirs, planning the transfer of part of the flow of Siberian rivers to Central Asia and other major water management measures can change natural conditions on a regional scale.

During operation, hydropower facilities have a diverse impact on the environment. Reservoirs have the most significant impact on nature:

1. The creation of reservoirs leads to flooding of the territory. The flood zone may include agricultural lands, mineral deposits, industrial and civil buildings, ancient monuments, roads, forests, permanent habitats of animals and plants, etc. The riverbed areas and areas at the mouths of tributaries are the most populated and developed. There is little agricultural land on the mountain slopes, and there are usually no industrial facilities there. Therefore, the creation of reservoirs in mountainous conditions causes significantly less damage than on the plains.

1. Flooding. Flooding of lands adjacent to the reservoir occurs due to rising groundwater levels. In an area of ​​excessive moisture, flooding entails negative consequences - waterlogging of plant roots and their death. With a change in the water-air regime of the soil, waterlogging and gleying of the soil can occur, which deteriorates the quality of the soil and reduces its productivity. In arid areas, flooding improves the conditions for plant growth at appropriate depths of soil water. In unfavorable conditions, soil salinization may occur.
2. Bank processing. Due to the rise and fall of the water level in the reservoir, when regulating runoff and wave phenomena, the banks of the reservoir are processed. This involves the erosion and collapse of steep slopes, the cutting off of capes and spits. The extent of bank reworking depends on their geological structure, the regime of water levels and the depth of the reservoir, the configuration of the banks, prevailing winds, etc. Relative stabilization of the banks occurs 5-20 years after the filling of the reservoir.
3. Water quality. Due to a decrease in flow speed and a decrease in water movement in depth, the physicochemical characteristics change significantly. The quality of the years in the reservoir is affected by the population of the flood zone, the species and age composition of the forest, undergrowth and forest litter, the presence of tributaries, the regime and depth of the reservoir, etc. When creating reservoirs, it is necessary to carefully study the combined influence of all factors, taking into account the prospects for the construction of cascades hydroelectric power station and take measures to maintain water quality. Water quality is a characteristic of the composition and properties of water that determines its suitability for specific types of water use. Wastewater entering the reservoir must be thoroughly treated. It is necessary to use the adjacent lands in agriculture using advanced agricultural techniques that limit the removal of fertilizers into the reservoir.
4. The influence of reservoirs on the microclimate. Reservoirs increase air humidity, change the wind regime of the coastal zone, as well as the temperature and ice conditions of the watercourse. This leads to changes in natural conditions, as well as the life and economic activities of the population, the habitat of animals and fish. The degree of influence of large reservoirs on the microclimate varies for individual regions of the country.
5. The influence of reservoirs on fauna. Many animals from the flood zone are forced to migrate to areas with higher elevations. At the same time, the species composition and number of animals decreases significantly. In a number of cases, reservoirs contribute to the enrichment of the fauna with new species of waterfowl and especially fish: crucian carp, carp, pike, etc. When the reservoir is drained early after the spring flood, shallow waters are drained, which negatively affects the spawning of fish in the upper pool.

Hydraulic structures also affect the environment. The construction of hydraulic dams leads to a rise in water levels in the upper pool and the formation of reservoirs. Dams blocking rivers make it difficult for fish to reach natural spawning grounds in the upper reaches of rivers. But platinums, hydroelectric power station buildings, locks, canals, etc., successfully integrated into the terrain and well architecturally designed, together with the upstream water area, create monumental and picturesque ensembles.

Nature conservation activities . Work on the construction of hydropower facilities should be designed with minimal damage to nature. When developing construction plans, it is necessary to rationally choose quarries, the location of roads, etc. By the time construction is completed, the necessary work must be carried out to reclaim land disturbances and landscaping the area. For a reservoir, the most effective environmental protection measure is engineering protection. For example, the construction of embankment dams reduces the area of ​​flooding and preserves land and mineral deposits for economic use, reduces the area of ​​shallow waters and improves the sanitary conditions of the reservoir, and preserves natural complexes. If the construction of dams is not economically justified, then shallow waters can be used for bird breeding and for other economic needs. If the required water levels are maintained, shallow waters can be used for fisheries, as spawning grounds and a food supply.

To prevent or reduce the processing of banks, bank protection is carried out. Enterprises, railways, residential and utility buildings, and ancient monuments are removed from the flood zone.

To ensure high water quality, sanitary cleaning of the reservoir bed is necessary before it is flooded with water. For this purpose, agrotechnical measures are taken to reduce polluted surface runoff and wastewater treatment plants are built.

If necessary, reserves, wildlife sanctuaries are organized, animals are captured and moved, and forest plantings are carried out. For the purpose of fish farming, artificial spawning grounds, spawning and nursery farms are created, fish passage structures are built for the passage of fish for spawning from the lower pool to the upper one. Extensive engineering protection work is being carried out in the downstream.

Conclusion

The state of the hydropower sector of any country largely depends on the ratio of the reserves of its hydropower resources, or, to put it differently, on the hydropower potential of its rivers, as well as on the scale and level of their development.

Technical potential, or in other words, what can be further used by generating electricity at hydroelectric power plants or other available technical methods, is usually calculated in billions of kWh/year. However, in this case, the economic feasibility of constructing and, of course, operating small hydroelectric power plants will be taken into account first of all. In other words, the higher the price of fuel consumed, the greater the benefits of using hydropower.

Bibliography

1. Andrizhievsky A.A., Volodin V.I. "Energy saving and energy management." - Mn: “Higher School” 2005
2. Volodin V.V., Khazanovsky P.M. "Energy, twenty-first century: Scientific and fiction literature." - M.: Det. lit., 1989
3. Baburin V.N. "Hydropower and integrated use of water resources", M: Nauka, 1986.
4. Avakyan A.B. "Integrated use and protection of water resources", M: 1990.

Electric power plants are a vital part of every person's life as they convert energy into electricity. One station represents a whole complex of activities, artificial and natural subsystems that serve for the transformation and distribution of all types of energy sources. The whole process can be divided into several stages:

1. The process of extracting and processing a primary energy source.
2. Delivery to the power plant.
3. The process of converting primary energy into secondary energy.
4. Distribution of secondary (electrical or between consumers.

Electric power involves the production of energy at a station and its subsequent delivery through power lines. The most important elements of this chain, such as power plants, differ in the type of primary sources that are available in a given region.

Let us consider some types of transformation processes in more detail, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each of them.

They belong to the group of traditional energy and occupy a significant share of global electricity generation (approximately 40%). The advantages and disadvantages of thermal power plants are given in the following table:

For example, reservoirs and rivers are used as a primary source of energy. The advantages and disadvantages of hydroelectric power stations are also summarized in the table.

Nuclear power plants (NPPs) are a complex of installations and activities intended for which, as a result of the fission of atomic nuclei, into heat, and then into the The most important element of this system is also a complex of related devices. The table below shows the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power plants.

An equally important stage is the transportation of fuel resources to the power plant. This process can be carried out in several ways, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. Consider the main methods of transportation:

• Water transport. Delivery is carried out using tankers and bunkers.
• Automobile transport. Transportation is carried out in tanks. The ability to transport only liquid or gaseous fuel determines the existing advantages and disadvantages of road transport.
• Railway transport. Delivery in tanks and open wagons over long distances.
• Suspended and rarely used and only for very short distances.

One of the main advantages of small hydropower facilities is environmental safety. During their construction and subsequent operation there are no harmful effects on the properties and quality of water. Reservoirs can be used for fishing activities and as sources of water supply for the population. However, in addition to this, micro and small hydroelectric power stations have many advantages. Modern stations are simple in design and fully automated, i.e. do not require human presence during operation. The electric current they generate meets GOST requirements for frequency and voltage, and the stations can operate in autonomous mode, i.e. outside the power grid of the power system of the region or region, and as part of this power grid. And the full service life of the station is at least 40 years (at least 5 years before major repairs). Well, and most importantly, small-scale energy facilities do not require the organization of large reservoirs with corresponding flooding of the territory and colossal material damage.

During the construction and operation of SHPPs, the natural landscape is preserved and there is virtually no load on the ecosystem. The advantages of small hydropower - compared to power plants using fossil fuels - also include: low cost of electricity and operating costs, relatively inexpensive replacement of equipment, longer service life of hydroelectric power plants (40-50 years), integrated use of water resources (electricity, water supply, reclamation, water protection, fisheries).

Many of the small hydroelectric power plants do not always provide guaranteed energy production, being seasonal power plants. In winter, their energy output drops sharply, snow cover and ice phenomena (ice and sludge), as well as summer low water and drying up of rivers, can completely stop their work. The seasonality of small hydropower plants requires backup energy sources; a large number of them can lead to a loss of reliability of energy supply. Therefore, in many areas, the power of small hydroelectric power stations is considered not as the main one, but as a backup one.

Reservoirs of small hydroelectric power stations, especially in mountainous and foothill areas, have a very acute problem of their siltation and the associated problem of rising water levels, flooding and flooding, reducing the hydropower potential of rivers and generating electricity. It is known, for example, that the reservoir of the Zemonechal hydroelectric power station on the Kura River was silted by 60% within 5 years.

For fisheries, small hydroelectric dams are less dangerous than medium and large ones, which block the migration routes of anadromous and semi-anadromous fish and block spawning grounds. Although, in general, the creation of waterworks does not completely eliminate the damage to the fish stock on the main rivers, because A river basin is a single ecological system and violations of its individual links inevitably affect the system as a whole.