Chapter 66: Site Selection For The Nuclear Power Plant
Early the next morning, Chen Chen was awakened by a strange noise. It was the clamorous, amusing sound of bird call. It seemed as if a thousand birds were chirping at once, which was pretty annoying.
Chen Chen blearily unplugged his phone’s charging cable and checked the time. It was around seven in the morning.
As he was woken up by the noise, Chen Chen looked a little grumpy. He got out of bed and opened the curtains of the French window to see who had disturbed his sweet dreams.
A great fog filled the s.p.a.ce between sky and earth. Even the morning sun seemed hazy. On the beach dozens of meters away, there was a large flock of crimson sh.o.r.ebirds. The strange bird cries Chen Chen had heard came from them.
Those should be the famous flamingos.
Walvis Bay was located on the coast of the Atlantic and was thus affected by the Benguela Current unique to the Atlantic. Often, there were cold, humid mists in the early morning and the Atlantic Ocean currents also brought in a rich supply of food. Therefore, thousands of flamingos inhabited the lagoon all year round. This was the beach Chen Chen was looking at.
The hotel Chen Chen was staying at was called Flamingo Villas Boutique Hotel. The “Flamingo” in the name referred precisely to the sh.o.r.ebirds.
Next to the lagoon, there were several luxurious hotels and countless European-style mansions. On a barren land like the African Continent, this was a paradise where an inch of land was worth an inch of gold.
Rumor had it that international movie stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had their first child here.
Chen Chen withdrew his gaze and looked at the road below his feet.
Under the veil of morning mist, a white girl was jogging along the lakeside path with headphones. A few white children, riding bicycles in the distance, laughed constantly.
In addition, some white people who had built houses by the lake sat on their green lawns, quietly taking in the fresh morning air.
All of these looked very ordinary, for small-town scenes like this one were common in Europe. However, Chen Chen knew that to create such a paradise in a place that suffered from water and electricity shortages, the resources consumed here were not comparable to those small towns in Europe.
No wonder this was known to be an expensive neighborhood.
Shaking his head, Chen Chen closed the curtains and sent Qian Wenhuan a message.
In a short while, there was a knock on the door.
Chen Chen walked over to open the door, only to find Qian Wenhuan coming in with a dining cart and a few people behind him. “Boss, I saw that the staff was delivering your meal, so I brought it in on my way.”
“Thank you. Please have a seat, everyone,” Chen Chen said to them as he indicated the sofa behind him.
After they were seated, Chen Chen scrutinized them one by one.
Besides Qian Wenhuan, there were Anthony, who was in charge of business negotiations, Jennifer, the legal advisor as well as Zhou Jing and w.a.n.g Liang, in charge of site selection for the nuclear power plant.
Anthony and Jennifer were Swiss while Zhou Jing and w.a.n.g Liang were geological professionals whom Chen Chen had asked Xia Yin to scout for in China.
In truth, they had planned to meet Chen Chen at the airport last night, but Chen Chen had declined.
“Has everyone eaten?” Chen Chen pushed the dining cart to the table and asked them.
“We’ve eaten before we came here,” Qian Wenhuan replied quickly. Everyone else nodded.
“Alright.” Chen Chen carried the food from the cart to the table and grinned. “It seems like all of you are doing well here. Wenhuan seems to have put on some weight.”
“Bo — Boss, I’m not to blame!”
Qian Wenhuan was startled and explained in a hurry, “You saw it for yourself last night. The officials of Namibia are too enthusiastic. They go everywhere with us. They follow us in campers and ambulances all day long even when we go out to explore. I can’t lose weight even if I wanted to.”
“That’s true. Over the past month or two, we’ve barely spent a dime. Everything was covered by the Namibian officials. But, we’ve definitely not been slacking off.”
w.a.n.g Liang helped to chime in, which earned him a grateful look from Qian Wenhuan.
“I’m just kidding around. As long as you maintain that balance, it’s fine.”
Chen Chen waved his hand and stuffed a forkful of salad into his mouth. “So, what do we have so far?”
“Boss, for now, we’ve picked two locations to build a nuclear power plant.”
Qian Wenhuan quickly took out a map and spread it on the coffee table. “The uranium mines in Namibia are mostly linked to the Damara orogenic belt. It’s concentrated in the Namib Desert on the Atlantic coast of the Erongo Province. The Husab and Rössing Uranium Mines are in this area too —”
Qian Wenhuan pointed to a small point on the westernmost part of Namibia. “We’re now on the Atlantic coast of the Erongo Province. If a nuclear power plant is to be built, it’s best to choose a coastal location. After all, a nuclear power plant requires a lot of cooling water. After consideration, we omitted the inland area of Namibia. Their freshwater system can’t even fulfill their own needs.”
“It’s possible to build inland too. We just need a cooling tower.” Zhou Jing, who was in charge of site selection, added.
“That wouldn’t do.” Qian Wenhuan shook his head at once. “It’s an unnecessary expenditure. Plus, if an accident happened as it did at the f.u.kushima nuclear power plant, we’d need even more cooling water.”
Qian Wenhuan continued explaining to Chen Chen, “So, we all agreed that building on the coast, ten kilometers to the north of Swakopmund, would be rather ideal.”
Seeing Chen Chen’s puzzled look, Qian Wenhuan said, “Swakopmund is a city less than thirty kilometers away, to the north of Walvis Bay. It’s the fourth largest city in Namibia, even more developed than Walvis Bay.
“It’s all because of the Husab Uranium Mine. Eight years ago, the China General Nuclear Power Group launched the Husab Uranium Mine project. They invested in the construction of roads, laid water pipelines, and upgraded power facilities to strengthen the foundation of Swakopmund’s infrastructure. If we build there, both the cost of material transportation and nuclear fuel transportation can be greatly reduced.”
“And Namibia will agree to this location?”
Chen Chen saw that the location Qian Wenhuan had pointed to was marked with the words “West Coast National Tourism and Recreation Area”.
“The main thing is that there aren’t many great choices.”
Qian Wenhuan scratched his head. “To be honest, according to the standards of building a nuclear power plant, it’s best to be surrounded by mountains on three sides and water on one side. If there’s an accident, the mountains can block part of the radioactive dust. However, Namibia doesn’t have a geographical location like that. Still, we can fulfill the criterion of being far away from residential areas. After all, it’s so spa.r.s.ely populated here.”
“And what’s the other location?” Chen Chen thought about it, then asked again.
“The other location isn’t to the north of Walvis Bay but to the south.”
Qian Wenhuan moved his finger down. “Again, the railway is the cheapest means of transportation. We can’t be too far from the railway or the cost will increase steeply, so the southern coastal area of Walvis Bay is possible too.”
Chen Chen took a look and saw a long string of words —”Namib-Naukluft National Park”.
“This location isn’t bad but...”
Jennifer, the legal advisor, hesitated. “The construction of a nuclear power plant will require the permission of the Namibian Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Protection, but environmental protection is written into the Namibian const.i.tution. Applying to build in either location would be quite troublesome.”
“That’s not something we have to worry about.”
Chen Chen guzzled a bottle of milk, wiped his mouth, and tapped the table. “Let’s go with the second location then. Ten kilometers to the south of Walvis Bay, right there.”
“Er, about the authorities...” Qian Wenhuan was astonished.
“Since it can be written into the const.i.tution, it can be struck out as well.” Chen Chen’s smile was cold. “Namibia isn’t the only country in Africa, after all.”