ABSTRACT
The harnessing of water power resources had been abandoned or at least decelerated for a few decades throughout the world after the prophecies of the 1950s: (a) that oil would be available in sufficient quantities to cover all requirements and extremely cheap for a long time, and (b) that nuclear power plants would very soon cover all the world’s further energy demands without risk. It turned out, however, that both of these assumptions were no more than naive expectations propagated unfortunately even by scientists and professional engineers. Consequently, in some countries, the planning and implementation of several promising hydroelectric projects has been delayed or completely stopped for about two decades.
