This questionnaire, following up on the roundtable

"Safety in Operations of Electricity Generating Plants",

which was organized in the context of the 9th International Conference "Mathematics, the Computer, Education", Dubna, Russia, January 29, 2002, is offered for your attention.

Leaders: Vsevolod V. Shakin, Ph.D. (Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia) and Philip J. Murphy (GAIA UNLIMITED, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.)

Participants: In all, twenty (20) persons took part in the roundtable: A.B.Bakhur, G.Y Riznichenko, D.S. Chernavskii, V.V. Strijov and others

Objectives of the roundtable included: Discussion of requisite conditions for development of energy systems and achievement of environmentally safe operation of electricity generating plants. In the course of the conversation, the current conditions of the Russian and American electricity generating and distribution industries, problems of decentralization, privatization and de-regulation (not excluding the Russian corporation "Unified Energy Systems"), and when careless conduct of business leads to sad consequences, as has happened in the U.S. of A. (electricity supply crisis in California, bankruptcy of the brokerage company Enron).

Also discussed were methods of evaluation of the state of repair of electricity generating plants by means of the use of required methods agreed upon through expert analysis and the formulation of technical criteria. It was proposed to use in Russia the "Kyoto Index^TM", which was developed for evaluation of electricity generating plants in the U.S.A.

In the course of the work of the roundtable, its participants took into consideration the opinion that, consistent with economic theory and practice, natural monopolies in "commodities of basic necessity" must be in the control of the government (D.S. Chernavskii). This applies as well to the generation and distribution of electricity. A market economy is not predictable. Mathematicians, to date, do not have satisfactory models for a market economy. This applies equally to generation and distribution of electricity in the U.S.A. and Russia.

Goal of this questionnaire: Assist the leaders to adequately discern all the opinions of the participants in the roundtable. Results of the questioning will be available on the internet at http://www.ccas.ru/cito/gaia. Problems of safety and sustainable development will be touched upon in papers by V.V. Shakin and P.J. Murphy at this very conference February 1.

Dear colleague, the following questions on general problems of generation and distribution of electricity are posed to you:

1. Can the problems of generating and distribution of electricity be reduced solely to financial problems?
2. Can we resolve these problems with the help of only market mechanisms?
3. Should private ownership in generation and distribution of electricity be permitted?
4. Is it necessary to take into account the method of generating electricity?
5. What ways to improve the reliability of energy systems can you suggest?
6. What are the primary problems in production of electrical energy?
7. What ways of influence on political leaders for change of the situation in generating and distributing electricity can you suggest?
8. Negative effects on the environment: How to evaluate? What criteria of electricity generating plants and energy systems must we take into consideration for an adequate assessment of environmental impact? If possible, attach a list.
9. Described at the roundtable was the "Kyoto IndexÔ" - a mechanism for evaluation of the impact of electricity generating plants on the environment, the population, and the state in which the plant is located. In the U.S.A., it (the "Kyoto IndexÔ") has been proposed to consumers of electrical energy as an instrument to allow them to choose a supplier of electrical energy. In so doing, it is taken into consideration the degree to which one or another supplier of electrical energy is ecologically unsafe. As you see it, to what degree will this mechanism be able to influence the process of contamination of the environment?
10. What mechanisms might you suggest for the improvement of ecological safety and sustainability of energy production and distribution? (For example, the mechanism of an increase in the price of electrical energy with subsequent upgrading of the equipment of electricity generating plants).

Please support your answers. If possible, please indicate the source in support of your opinions. You may write answers on the back of this questionnaire and return it to V.V. Shakin Friday (February 1, 2002), or send to the address: shakin@cs.ru. Upon compilation of the answers, we can distribute (the results) to you if you will indicate your name on the questionnaire.

We are hoping for a productive collaboration. Thank you for your assistance in the effort!

Leaders of the roundtable: V. V. Shakin and P. J. Murphy