Skip to main content

Love Among the Cooling Towers

He’s young and scruffy, with puppy dog eyes:

Atomic_Ivan_1

She’s fresh and vivacious, who likes to – do – something out front of the facility (must be a windy day):

Atomic_Ivan_2

When they meet, can love be far behind?

Atomic_Ivan_8

Vodka and cooling towers? Will there be a second date?

World Nuclear News has the story of a new Russian film called Atomic Ivan (not the young fellow – his name is Vanya):

Snigirev Dobrygin and Julie Gregory take the starring roles under direction from Vasily Barkhatov, who uses family and nuclear culture to explore themes of commitment, stability and continuity between generations. Rosatom said that nuclear work is portrayed as prestigious and exciting, as complicated and intricate as personal relationships, and coming with extensive training and great responsibility.

That sounds – awful – like something the old Soviet Union would produce to extol agricultural achievements. There certainly are interesting pictures that could be made using the nuclear industry as a background, but the idea of offering a parallel between young love and an industrial setting suggests that both will come out diminished. Of course, I haven’t seen the movie – it could be a masterpiece.

A Rosatom presentation listed some of its goals in this unique public communication project: projecting an image of modern young scientists; promoting the idea of continuity of skills and culture between generations of nuclear workers; illustrating the true nature of the nuclear industry; and attracting a target audience through modern, topical cinematic language and expression.

Shoot me now. On the other hand, the stills (and young couple) are lovely and director Barkhatov said he will use film rather than video to shoot the landscape of the plant, so it will certainly have some texture. And really, funning aside, it might be good: Barkhatov might surprise us all with a touching romantic tale merged with science and industry. Time will tell.

Note: NNN reader Brian Mays tells us Vanya is the diminutive for Ivan – you don’t expect a two syllable diminutive for a two syllable name, but there you are. So I guess Atomic Ivan is indeed our hero.

Comments

Anonymous said…
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/carousel/x13298183/Zombies-coming-to-Norwich#axzz1Y3UMjSHv

It certainly sounds better than the above film about Zombies caused by a nuclear meltdown, that is planned for a release this year.

D. Pulaski
Brian Mays said…
"a new Russian film called Atomic Ivan (not the young fellow – his name is Vanya)"

Actually, Vanya is the Russian diminutive (or nickname) for Ivan.

I know it's not obvious, but who would say that "Bill" is an obvious nickname for "William"? And I'll steer clear of mentioning common nicknames for Richard.
Bill said…
The English equivalent is 'Johnny/Johnnie' for 'John'.
Anonymous said…
The production company's website for the film is here:

http://www.telestofilm.ru/press/press_reliz/Nedelimoe/

"Atomic Ivan" is billed as a lyric comedy, and the description hints at romance kindled in crucible of catastrophe. Hard to tell whether this will be a knee-slapper or a tear-jerker, but I'm sold by the on-location shooting at Leningrad NPP, the oldest RBMK station still in service.

Popular posts from this blog

An Ohio School Board Is Working to Save Nuclear Plants

Ohio faces a decision soon about its two nuclear reactors, Davis-Besse and Perry, and on Wednesday, neighbors of one of those plants issued a cry for help. The reactors’ problem is that the price of electricity they sell on the high-voltage grid is depressed, mostly because of a surplus of natural gas. And the reactors do not get any revenue for the other benefits they provide. Some of those benefits are regional – emissions-free electricity, reliability with months of fuel on-site, and diversity in case of problems or price spikes with gas or coal, state and federal payroll taxes, and national economic stimulus as the plants buy fuel, supplies and services. Some of the benefits are highly localized, including employment and property taxes. One locality is already feeling the pinch: Oak Harbor on Lake Erie, home to Davis-Besse. The town has a middle school in a building that is 106 years old, and an elementary school from the 1950s, and on May 2 was scheduled to have a referendu

Why Ex-Im Bank Board Nominations Will Turn the Page on a Dysfunctional Chapter in Washington

In our present era of political discord, could Washington agree to support an agency that creates thousands of American jobs by enabling U.S. companies of all sizes to compete in foreign markets? What if that agency generated nearly billions of dollars more in revenue than the cost of its operations and returned that money – $7 billion over the past two decades – to U.S. taxpayers? In fact, that agency, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), was reauthorized by a large majority of Congress in 2015. To be sure, the matter was not without controversy. A bipartisan House coalition resorted to a rarely-used parliamentary maneuver in order to force a vote. But when Congress voted, Ex-Im Bank won a supermajority in the House and a large majority in the Senate. For almost two years, however, Ex-Im Bank has been unable to function fully because a single Senate committee chairman prevented the confirmation of nominees to its Board of Directors. Without a quorum

NEI Praises Connecticut Action in Support of Nuclear Energy

Earlier this week, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed SB-1501 into law, legislation that puts nuclear energy on an equal footing with other non-emitting sources of energy in the state’s electricity marketplace. “Gov. Malloy and the state legislature deserve praise for their decision to support Dominion’s Millstone Power Station and the 1,500 Connecticut residents who work there," said NEI President and CEO Maria Korsnick. "By opening the door to Millstone having equal access to auctions open to other non-emitting sources of electricity, the state will help preserve $1.5 billion in economic activity, grid resiliency and reliability, and clean air that all residents of the state can enjoy," Korsnick said. Millstone Power Station Korsnick continued, "Connecticut is the third state to re-balance its electricity marketplace, joining New York and Illinois, which took their own legislative paths to preserving nuclear power plants in 2016. Now attention should