Thirty years after the destruction of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a couple of Chinese energy companies announced their plans to set up another energy harvesting facility within The Exclusion Zone of the damaged nuclear reactor-only this time a much safer solar power plant.
GCL System Integration Technology (GCL-SI) and state-owned China National Complete Engineering Corp (CCEC) revealed plans of building a 1-gigawatt solar energy-harvesting plant in an undisclosed region of the 2,600 sq. km. (1,000 sq. mi.) Exclusion Zone.
CCEC will oversee the project as a whole while GCL-SI will be responsible for the provision and installation of solar components.
Raising concerns over the very high risk of radiation exposure within The Zone, a GCL-SI manager suggested in a report that multiple reconnaissance surveys of the site had been conducted to ensure that the radiation level at the target location is under control.
The devastating 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant meltdown contaminated a large part of region with deadly radiation. The contamination was so profound that up to this day radiation exposure from portions of the area still poses great health risks.
The government of Ukraine, however, has already passed a law which allows development of the contaminated land for agriculture, among others, suggesting that The Exclusion Zone, or at least parts of it, can already be rendered for rehabilitation.
The project is seen to provide both social and economic benefits, especially with the green and renewable nature of the planned energy facility.
China has just recently surpassed Germany as the solar energy superpower, with over 43-gigawatt total solar capacity, according to a report. Moreover, China is projected to triple its solar capacity to 140 gigawatts by 2020.