Kanat Abdrakhmatov: In Kyrgyzstan, the construction of large hydropower plants is planned without the participation of seismologists, 21 November 2013

“The most important projects in the field of construction of large hydroelectric power plants are considered without the participation of local specialists in the field of seismic risk assessment,” said Kanat Abdrakhmatov, director of the Institute of Seismology of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic.

According to him, during the construction of the dam and the building of the Kambarata HPP-2, old data on fault activity were used, "they were mapped at the location of the most important objects." “As a result, it turned out that the fault, which passes almost under the building of the hydroelectric power station and is considered inactive, turned out to be very mobile..."

He also said that the institute's management would learn about the beginning of the feasibility study for such important facilities from the media. "For example, it turns out that some kind of geological and geophysical work is being carried out in the area of the future construction of the Kambarata HPP-1. However, no one contacted us about this, and the scientific community has no idea in which location these objects are being designed and whether there are active faults,” Kanat Abdrakhmatov added.

Moreover, he believes that the criteria for assessing seismic risk in the area of ​​the proposed construction are not clear. “Specialists from the institute practically do not participate in the selection of locations for the construction of the Upper Naryn cascade of HPPs and the assessment of the seismic risks of this area. At the same time, it is known from previous studies that some of the dams are designed in close proximity to the Central Naryn active fault,” Kanat Abdrakhmatov emphasizes...