From Atomgrad to Atompark

Abstract

The nuclear energy landscape is characterized by city large industrial sites, transmission corridors cutting through the forested landscape, a new town with specific type of population (multiethnic highly educated nuclear power plant workers, artists and sportsmen) and the lifestyle, buffer landscape which is part of international nature framework, forested, laky and sparsely inhabited land. This landscape is facing the transition due to the decommissioning of nuclear power plant. Decommissioning involves dismantling power plant at the final stage. But it takes more than that. Decommissioning deletes atomgrads economy, population, identity, cultural and technical achievements, threatens built structures in the city and raises questions about the role of the buffer landscape. Considering the impact of the decommissioning and the potentials in remaining spatial and social structures, the project upcycles energy structures and knowledge, enhances and maintains the rich nature and uncovers the potentials of the nuclear power plant to be seen as industrial heritage. It proposes an alternative decommissioning process that adds to region’s economy and strengthens natural and cultural qualities. The strategy with 6 layers, which derives from exploratory scenarios, is built to upcycle spatial and social structures. It gives the ability for people to control radiation, uses phytotechnologies to clean the sites and prevent from further contamination, biodynamic farms as means to increase biodiversity and for a safe food production in areas with higher levels of radionuclides, it proposes an energy transition from centralized energy generation to regional distributed energy generation subgrid, facilities, diversity of workplaces for the researchers and entrepreneurs, preservation of industrial heritage. Spatial interventions, projects, integrate strategy layers to both improve the layer they belong to and to contribute to transition of the nuclear energy landscape, transition from Atomgrad to Atompark.