Desalination plant in Aqtau, formerly know as Ševčenko (1964 — 1992), in Kazakhstan: it produced 120,000 m³/day of drinkable water from the Caspian Sea. Built in 1973, it was powered by a 150 MWe nuclear “Fast Breeder Reactor” (FBR) class BN producing, wich also supplied power for the city and produced plutonium for other purpouses. It was the only nuclear-powered desalination plant. The car in the foreground …
Mietitrebbiatrici in Kazakistan, primi anni ’70
Combine harvesters in Kazakhstan, in the early 70s. The combine harvester is a machine that combines harvesting operations —reaping, threshing and winnowing— into a single process. According to Novosti news agency’s 1975 yearbook, «since 1954 in Kazakhstan have been cultivated 24 million hectares of wild lands uncultivated lands». (photo: © 1975 Novosti news agency, Moscow – personal collection)
Cosmodromo di Bajkonur, primi anni ’70
“Soyuz” carrier rocket at Baikonur cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, in the early 70s. From this base was launched, in 1961, the spaceship Vostok 1 vthe vehicle that carried the first man in space: Major Yuri Gagarin. Bajkonur is the world’s first and largest operational space launch facility. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the base remained under the Russian administration, yet in Kazakh territory. (photo: © 1975 …
Harvesting of apples in Almaty (Kazakistan), early 70s
Harvesting of apples of the variety “aport” near Almaty, former capital of Kazakhstan, in the early 70s. The name “Almaty” derives probably from the Kazakh word alma (алма) that means “apple” and thus is often translated as “place of apples”: we can find alma or likes also in other Ural-Altaic languages, as Ungarian and Mongolian (in Turkish: elma.) Native of this area is the species Malus …
Kazakistan, fountain in Alma-Atà (Almaty), 1975
Alma-Atà (now called Almaty, Алматы), former capital of the Kazakhstan, in 1975. Back then the country was part of the Soviet Union and the population of the city was 837 000 (source: Novosti). Fountains are a distinctive trait of the city: more than hundred have been built since 1948 in order to watering green spaces and creating a more tolerable climate during the hot and dry season. There is also a …
