From Model to Reality

This is the never-ending and always-disputed story of the “Alessandro Volta” power plant.

In 1976 the Italian authorities for energy decided to build a nuclear plant near Montalto di Castro. After a long fight and the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, the environmental and ecological movements obtained, with a popular referendum, in 1988 the complete cessation of the nuclear plant’s construction.

In 1990 it was decided to convert the plant into a fuel-oil and methane system. The price of the oil was about 30$/barrel. In 1996 the power plan was active with a potential energy of 3600 MV.

Today the power plant works at a quarter of its potential, the cost of an oil barrel has increased to 60$ so the ENEL, the Italian energy company, presented a new project to convert the plan to coal-alimentation.

But this is not the definitive solution: the co2 emissions are higher than before and Italy has signed the Kyoto protocols for co2 emissions reduction, and the ecological movements are on a war footing again.

This immersive photograph is not in a “documentary” style, but is a fusion of typical “creative” photo-techniques: inversion of tones (negative) for the outside, solarization and sepia toning for the room (the “contest” of the model) and classic color-photography for the model.

Dedicated to the memory of my father George

Europe / Italy

Lat: 42° 21' 48" N
Long: 11° 32' 10" E

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: Unknown / Undeclared.