18.02.2008 // Information Department of Novovoronezh NPP

On Feb 14 Atomenergoproekt started the next stage of Novovoronezh NPP-2 project

On Feb 14, in the presence of the vice governor of Voronezh region Alexander Tsapin, the deputy director general of Rosenergoatom Concern Alexander Polushkin, the directors of Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant Vyacheslav Vikin and Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant-2 Igor Mokshanov, the director general of Atomenergoproekt Vladimir General gave a start to the next stage of Novovoronezh NPP-2 project: removal of earth from the foundation pit of the reactor compartment of the 1st unit.

This stage will last till Apr 2008. Almost 700,000 cubic meter of earth is supposed to be removed from the pit.

Today, the constructors continue planning the area. 4,000,000 cubic meters of earth has been removed from the area so far: almost 50,000 c m a day. The plan is 6,500,000 c m. 220 hectares of woods have been cut down in the area to date.

Over 800 people and 300 vehicles (excavators, bulldozers, dump trucks) are involved in the project at present.

Since the beginning of the project Atomenergoproekt has allocated 3,124,000,000 RUR: 2,513,000,000 RUR has already been spent.

18bln RUR has been budgeted for the project this year. The total financing is 130bln RUR.

«The new reactor will be safer and better than its predecessors: WWER-440 and WWER-1000, which were also tested here in Novovoronezh,» the director of Novovoronezh NPP Vyacheslav Vikin said. «The new unit will be more economical and more powerful. One unit of Novovoronezh NPP-2 is supposed to replace the 3rd and 4th units of our plant and is expected to produce necessary electricity when the latter are decommissioned. Besides, this is an evolutionary project based on the technical solutions of NPP-92. It is much safer than its predecessors and meets all European standards.»

The vice governor of Voronezh region Alexander Tsapin said that Novovoronezh NPP-2 was the key project for the state in both political and economic terms. «And of course this is the biggest project in Voronezh region,» Tsapin said.

The director general of Atomenergoproekt Vladimir Generalov said that the next stage was concreting of the foundations of the reactor compartment. It will mark the end of the preparatory stage.

Note

Atomenergoproekt (Moscow) is one of the key engineering companies of Rosatom. AEP has designed most nuclear power plants in Russia, Eastern Europe and the CIS, particularly, Bushehr NPP in Iran and Kudankulam NPP in India. It is the general designer of Belene NPP in Bulgaria.

On May 29 2007 Atomenergoproekt was proclaimed the general contractor of Novovoronezh NPP-2 project. In June 2007 the Federal Agency for Nuclear Energy and Atomenergoproekt signed a sate contract for the construction of the 1st and 2nd units of the plant. The 1st unit is to be launched in 2012, the 2nd one — in 2013. The total financing is 130bln RUR.

Thus, Atomenergoproekt is the first Rosatom engineering company to have won the right to build an NPP in Russia in the framework of the federal target program for the development of the nuclear power industry of Russia in 2007–2010 and -2015.

NovNPP-2 is being built on the basis of AEP’s NPP-2006 project – an NPP with WWER-1200 reactors. This is an evolutionary project based on the best solutions of the NPP-92 project. The NPP will be very safe and will meet all the EU standards. The NPP-92 project has been certified by EUR.