482 



ities put feelers out about building addi- 

 tional nuclear power stations m Guang- 

 dong. In March the Chinese apparently 

 decided that a second nuclear plant in 

 Guangdong, China's fastest -growing 

 province, was a necessity. The province 

 conducts an annual $50 billion trade 

 with Hong Kong, and new industrial 

 projects include three polyethylene 

 plants, a $200-million oil refinery near 

 Guangzhou, and an $80-million upgrade 

 of a steel mill, lb power these and other 

 projects, provincial officials plan to 

 increase Guangdong's generating capac- 

 ity from 8.500 megawatts to 15,000 



megawatts over the next five years. 



With the missing steel rods at Daya 

 Bay and the delay in the startup of the 

 Qinshan plant, the Chinese have halted 

 nuclear projects while seeking solu- 

 tions to problems that have emerged. 

 In the Qinshan case, a major redesign 

 to strengthen the plant's earthquake 

 resistance is under way and the plant is 

 expected to begin startup tests later 

 this year. 



Although poUdcs can determine deci- 

 sions about major projects in China, 

 even during the cultural revolution in 

 (continued on page i6) 



SOVIET LMON 



The greening of 

 Petropavlovsk 



By JOSHUA HANDLER 



The maior Soviet nuclear submanne base at Avachinskaya Bay has done little to stimu- 

 late the local economy in nearby Petropavlovsk. 



No thaw in the Cold War ever reached 

 Avachinskaya Bay. Located in the 

 chilly northern Pacific on the Kamchat- 

 ka Peninsula, the bay houses a major 

 Soviet nuclear submanne base and 



naval shipyard. It faces U.S. naval 

 nuclear forces based in Alaska and the 

 West Coast. Soviet ballistic missile 

 submarines still leave regularly on 

 strategic patrols, and the United 



States still tries as hard as ever to 

 track their movements. 



Some 10 miles across the bay from 

 the submarine base is the bustling pon 

 of Petropavlovsk, a dty with a popula- 

 tion of over 200,000 people. It too con- 

 tains military facilities, but nothing as 

 sensitive as the submanne base. Yet. 

 as a result of military secretiveness. 

 the whole bay area has been closed to 

 foreigners and to most Soviets. Re- 

 cently, a few outsiders have been 

 allowed into the city, but the bay itself 

 and the surrounding towns remain 

 tightly closed. Foreign ships cannot 

 enter the bay. In the most restricted 

 areas near the submarine base, even 

 residents who have nothing to do with 

 the military and who work in Petro- 

 pavlovsk still have to carry special 

 papers that allow them to re-enter 

 their villages and towns at the work- 

 day's end. 



Local military commanders are not 

 eager to open the region. Greenpeace 

 was mvited by the Far Eastern Soviet 

 Academy of Sciences to a mid-June 

 conference in Petropavlovsk, to pre- 

 sent a paper on the ecological conse- 

 quences of nuclear-powered ship 

 operations in the northern Pacific. 

 Four of us obtained special permission 

 (with some difficulty) to journey to 

 Petropavlovsk, and traveled overland. 

 Meanwhile, the Greenpeace tlagship 

 Rainbow Wamor attempted to enter 

 Avachinskaya Bay in mid-June, with- 

 out obtaining advance permission. 

 Adm. I. Shumanln, a regional militan.' 

 leader, threatened to fire on the ship. 

 Locals said this was no idle threat, as 

 he had fired at ships before. Last year. 

 when reporters went to investigate a 

 fire aboard a militarj- ship burning in 

 the bay, guards fired warning shots. 



The old guard, as represented by 

 Shumanin, however, has not been 

 unopposed. When Greenpeace visited, 

 local Greens were actively promoting 

 an environmental agenda in the Kam- 

 chatka regional parliament and were 

 beginning to challenge the military. 

 The first independent television station 

 in the Soviet Union. TV'K or TV Kam- 

 chatka, was started in Petropavlov.-k. 

 It has taken an independent bne. v^ith 

 innovative programming and interest- 

 ing pohtical commeniarv-. It also took 

 up the cause of the Rauibon Wnn-wt: 

 On the morning of June IT. in an emer- 

 gency show of support for the ship's 

 visit. 1,000 signatures were gathered in 

 (continued on pagi ,',, 



i 



S^lUi-'\ f)T^ October IM^l 



11 



