Landmark Nikel stacks fall in demolition
The sulphur dioxide pollution from the chimneys was a thorn in Norwegian-Russian cross-border relations for 30-years. Two of the three are now demolished, while the last will be preserved.
When the last production at the smelter in Nikel shut down in December 2020 it marked an end to the largest air-polluting polluting source in northern Europe.
The factory was rebuilt shortly after second world war, with smelting of nickel ore started in 1946. The tall smoke stacks came in the 1960s, aimed to bring the worst part of the air-pollution further away from the town of Nikel which was built just next to the dirty production.
Forming the skyline in Nikel, the three chimneys were eye-catching from the Norwegian side of the border, a few short kilometers to the west. Worse than the dead forest was the polluted wind that forced Norwegians living close to the border to stay indoor when sulphur concentrations were bad.
This first chimney was demolished in April, the second on May 15.
According to Kn51 , the a regional newspaper owned by the Nornickel, the stacks had to come down for security reasons. They were in very bad shape and danger was high for them falling apart by accident.
Nornickel continues to produce nickel and copper in both Monchegorsk south on the Kola Peninsula and in Norilsk on the Taymyr Peninsula in Siberia.
The company recently announced it due to sanctions will move some of the production to China, as markets for battery production for electric vehicles are growing fast in Asia.
Meanwhile, most parts of the shutdown plant in Nikel will be demolished. That work, however, will take yet another few years.
See photos Chimney No. 2 being reduced to rubble on May 15 in the slide-show below.
