Results of the guest meeting of State Duma Energy Committee concerning the completion of the 5th unit of Kursk NPP

19.01.2007 // Press service of Rosenergoatom

Everything is ready for the completion of the 5th unit of Kursk NPP

The State Duma Committee on Energy, Transport and Communication, chaired by Valery Yazev, held a meeting at Kursk NPP on Jan 18 2007. The Committee considered the possibilities for completing the 5th unit of Krusk NPP. The meeting followed a visit to the 1st and 5th units of the plant. During the meeting Director General of Rosenergoatom Sergey Obozov and Director of Kursk NPP Yuri Slepokon reported to the Committee members on the situation and presented their position on the matter.

The position of Rosenergoatom, which was coordinated with the management of Rosatom, was presented to the deputies in the form of seven theses disproving the arguments against the completion of the 5th unit. Obozov expressed conviction that, once the problem is resolved on a political level, the technical organizational, price and other problems will also be resolved.
 
In his turn, Slepokon presented to the Committee specific plan of how to complete and launch the 5th unit by Nov-Dec 2010. The governor of Kursk region Alexander Mikhaylov fully supported the plan: “We believe that the unit is almost ready and it is a key source of reserve electricity for the Central Region. The problem of the 5th unit is an all-Russian problem. We must solve it on a federal level, we must overcome inter-departmental disintegration.”

The Committee members got convinced that the 5th unit is actually ready technologically and has necessary infrastructure for the final phase. They noted that the launch of the unit will greatly contribute to the energy and social-economic security of the region.

In conclusion, Chairman of the Committee Valery Yazev suggested recommending the Government to include the completion of the 5th unit of Kursk NPP in the “General Scheme of Russian Electric Power Facilities Deployment Till 2020” and making necessary investments for the project to be completed by 2010. Particularly, the state budget 2008–2010 should earmark necessary funds for the project and for the general development of Kursk NPP. “In any case, already today, we are sure that we will get large-scale financing and will complete the project in time,” Yazev said.
 
The adoption of the official decision was put off till Jan 24. On that day, the Committee will hear the positions of the concerned parties and will pass the final verdict.

Rosatom’s position was clearly expressed by the head of the agency Sergey Kiriyenko in his Mar 15 2006 letter to the head of RAO UES Anatoly Chubays. In his letter, Kiriyenko suggested starting the construction of the 5th unit of Kursk NPP in 2006.