28.05.2008 // Information Department of Leningrad NPP/Press service of Rosenergoatom Concern

Leningrad NPP, jointly with regional authorities, has organized Doors Open Day for journalists

On May 28 2008 Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant (the branch of Rosenergoatom Concern, Sosnovy Bor, Leningrad region), jointly with regional authorities, conducted an Doors Open Day for journalists with a view to provide them with a clearer picture of the work of the plant and to discuss the situation following the recent rumors concerning LNPP.

The event began with a briefing with the participation of the deputy director general of Rosenergoatom Concern-the director of Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant Valery Lebedev, the head of the Sosnovy Bor Administration Dmitry Pulyayevsky, the prosecutor of Sosnovy Bor Stanislav Rumyantsev and the deputy head of the Sosnovy Bor Division of the Investigation Department of Leningrad region Maria Shklyaruk.

Lebedev informed the journalists about the maintenance campaign at Leningrad NPP: the May 8 restart of the 3rd unit after overhaul, the subsequent short-term maintenance of the 4th unit and its restart and the May 23 stoppage of the 1st unit for 60-day overhaul.

«The 2nd unit will be stopped for maintenance on June 20 and on Aug 20 Leningard NPP will have four units in service in line with the schedule of the Federal Tariff Service and the Dispatch Control Department of North-Western Region,» Lebedev said.

He pointed out that in 2008, just like in the previous years, Leningrad NPP has operated safely and efficiently and the radiation background at the plant and its buffer and monitoring zones has been within norm.

Pulyayevsky pointed out that there were no grounds for such rumors in either Sosnovy Bor or Leningrad NPP: «That’s exactly why, we have decided to organize Open Door Day, jointly with the regional administration, so as to show you that everything is OK. I would like to thank the management of the plant and the prosecutor of Sosnovy Bor for their consent to take part in the briefing.»

Most of the journalists’ questions concerned the situation over the May 20–21 rumors. In response to a question by ORT journalists Rumyantsev said: «We are just making suppositions. The May 20–21 events are very much like a two-stage campaign. There are just 3–4 answers to the question „Who Needs This!“: extremists (even ecological movements have such people), hooligans or people having their own commercial interests and defying the construction of Leningrad NPP-2. This may also be a preparatory stage for future large-scale information attack.»

Shklyaruk explained that the initial investigation may last for 30 days. «For the moment we can just discard the version that the rumors were spread by sources from Sosnovy Bor.» She asked the journalists to help the investigators to find e-mails and mobile phone numbers that were used for spreading the allegations.

One of the journalists asked if Rosenergoatom Concern was going to file a claim for protection of its honor and business reputation. Lebedev said that this is possible.

After the briefing the journalists went on an excursion of the plant and the stations of the plant’s automated radiation control system.