32 Stefan Guth
technogenic seismicity, drew philosophical conclusions from these observations that aptly reflect the zeitgeist of those years:
To the extent that man comprehends his natural environment, he not
only adapts to it, but also strives to control it ever more actively. The
reclamation of desert regions, … the regulation and diversion of rivers …
testifies to the highest achievements of civilization in leveraging the laws
of nature. The development of the Mangyshlak peninsula bears witness
to this. But on this difficult journey, man is not accompanied by success
alone. … Such dangers [as earthquakes] are slumbering in the depths of
Mangyshlak, too. […] The large-scale technogenic and natural disasters
which have taken place in our technological civilization over the last
few years demand a re-thinking of the present approach in this realm,
which needs to include a transition from mitigating the consequences of
catastrophes to preventing them from happening, to anticipating their
possible consequences and to elaborating scenarios for dealing with
them. 102
Against this background and attuned to the apocalyptic mood of the period,
Shevchenko’s once overly confident technologists developed gloomy worstcase scenarios for a combined natural and man-made disaster: a strong
earthquake would destroy tanks and pipes at Shevchenko’s chemical industries
and trigger immense explosions, especially at the fertilizer and plastics plants
where high quantities of explosives were stored, as well as at the thermal
power station in the immediate vicinity of the NPP. Damage from the earthquake, combined with the shockwave of the explosions, would wreak havoc
upon the BN-350, with catastrophic consequences for the city. Retrofitting
the reactor against these hazards was deemed impossible. 103
Coping with Environmental Degradation
before and after 1991
Technogenic environmental degradation and unexpected changes in
the natural environment thus taught Soviet technologists that nature and
technology were thoroughly interdependent – inseparably intertwined
in a shared envirotechnical system. While the urgency of the resulting
problems was new, the insight itself had been in the making for decades.
The need to complement nature transformation with conservation was recognized in Soviet theory, if not in practice, since the Khrushchev era. 104
Environmental protection figured in the CPSU program as early as 1961, 105
and in subsequent years, so-called Societies for Environmental Protection were
established in most Union Republics to funnel growing ecological concerns
among the population into the bedrock of official mass organizations. 106
The Mangyshlak region received its own Regional Society for Nature Protection
when it was granted oblast’ status in 1973, 107 and less than a decade later,
technogenic seismicity, drew philosophical conclusions from these observations that aptly reflect the zeitgeist of those years:
To the extent that man comprehends his natural environment, he not
only adapts to it, but also strives to control it ever more actively. The
reclamation of desert regions, … the regulation and diversion of rivers …
testifies to the highest achievements of civilization in leveraging the laws
of nature. The development of the Mangyshlak peninsula bears witness
to this. But on this difficult journey, man is not accompanied by success
alone. … Such dangers [as earthquakes] are slumbering in the depths of
Mangyshlak, too. […] The large-scale technogenic and natural disasters
which have taken place in our technological civilization over the last
few years demand a re-thinking of the present approach in this realm,
which needs to include a transition from mitigating the consequences of
catastrophes to preventing them from happening, to anticipating their
possible consequences and to elaborating scenarios for dealing with
them. 102
Against this background and attuned to the apocalyptic mood of the period,
Shevchenko’s once overly confident technologists developed gloomy worstcase scenarios for a combined natural and man-made disaster: a strong
earthquake would destroy tanks and pipes at Shevchenko’s chemical industries
and trigger immense explosions, especially at the fertilizer and plastics plants
where high quantities of explosives were stored, as well as at the thermal
power station in the immediate vicinity of the NPP. Damage from the earthquake, combined with the shockwave of the explosions, would wreak havoc
upon the BN-350, with catastrophic consequences for the city. Retrofitting
the reactor against these hazards was deemed impossible. 103
Coping with Environmental Degradation
before and after 1991
Technogenic environmental degradation and unexpected changes in
the natural environment thus taught Soviet technologists that nature and
technology were thoroughly interdependent – inseparably intertwined
in a shared envirotechnical system. While the urgency of the resulting
problems was new, the insight itself had been in the making for decades.
The need to complement nature transformation with conservation was recognized in Soviet theory, if not in practice, since the Khrushchev era. 104
Environmental protection figured in the CPSU program as early as 1961, 105
and in subsequent years, so-called Societies for Environmental Protection were
established in most Union Republics to funnel growing ecological concerns
among the population into the bedrock of official mass organizations. 106
The Mangyshlak region received its own Regional Society for Nature Protection
when it was granted oblast’ status in 1973, 107 and less than a decade later,