21.06.2007 // Press service of Rosenergoatom

A capsule with a message to the coming generations was put in the foundations of the two new units of Novovoronezh NPP-2 on June 20

The head of Rosatom Sergey Kiriyenko, the director general of Rosenergoatom Sergey Obozov, representatives of Atomenergoproject and regional and local authorities took part in the ceremony.

During a press-conference on the site, Kiriyenko said: “The President of the Russian Federation has instructed us to raise the share of nuclear energy in the total energy production to 25% by 2020 and to 30% for the following period. For this purpose, by 2020 we should build 26 new nuclear power units with a capacity of over 1000 MW. Novovoronezh NPP has always been a pioneer in the sector. It was here that the Soviet authorities conducted many of their pilot projects: the first WWER reactors (the 1st and 2nd units), the first WWER-440 reactors (3rd and 4th units), the first WWER-1000 (the 5th unit). Now too we are starting our large-scale program here on Voronezh land. The NPP-2006 unit is an absolutely new project, which is safer than any of the existing units, stronger and can work for twice as long a period.”

The first constructors and the operators of the 1st unit of NNPP were also there. The deputy director general-the director for development of Rosenergoatom Alexander Polushkin said: “We have solved all problems concerning documentation and contracts, we have selected the contractor, now we can start the construction. This is a real holiday for the residents of Novovoronezh: the city will develop and the glorious traditions of the local nuclear power engineering will be preserved.”

The delegates visited all the existing units of the plant, heard the report of the chief engineer V.Zhbannikov on the operation and modernization of the existing units and on the planned decommissioning of the 1st and 2nd units.

The unique Novovoronezh NPP-2 project with two 1000 MW enhanced safety units has been designed by Atomenergoproject (Moscow). The first unit of NNPP-2 will be launched in 2012, the 2nd one – in 2013.

This is the start of the evolutionary project NPP-2006: the construction of NPPs with WWER-1000/1200 reactors on the basis of the Russian and foreign experience.