OREANDA-NEWS. On October 22, 2007 the Automobile Transport Department of Sosnovy Bor has started clearing area for the pit of the foundations of the 1st unit of Leningrad NPP-2, says the deputy director for operation of the Department I.Ptakhin, reported the press-centre of Rosenergoatom.    

“We have made a contract for digging the pit. For this purpose, we have set up a special section and have bought foreign excavators and 25-ton dumpers. The equipment will be used at the construction site,” says Ipakhin.

Note
Since Apr 1 2002 Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant has been the branch of Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Russian State Concern for Production of Electric and Thermal Power at Nuclear Power Plants” (Rosenergoatom Concern).

The plant has four units with RBMK-1000 reactors with a total capacity of 4000 MW. In 2006 the plant produced 23,178bln KWh.

Presently, the life of unit 1 has been extended for 15 years, the life of unit 2 — for 5 years (after modernization it will be given 15 years more). The service deadline for units 3 and 4 is 2009 and 2011, respectively. Their lives can be extended for 20 years.

The construction of unit 1 of LNPP-2 is part of the Federal Target Program for the Development of the Nuclear Power Industry of Russia in 2007–2010 and -2015, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation on Oct 6 2006.

In 2008 the Government is planning to allocate 5,909bln RUR for the project. The total cost of the project is 69,023bln RUR.

LNPP-2 has been approved by the Federal Service for Ecological, Technological and Nuclear Control.

The preparatory stage of the project was started on Aug 30 2007.

The general contractor of the project is Atomenergoproject (St.Petersburg), which has won this right in a tender (on July 25 2007) against Atomeneroproject (Moscow) and Atomenergoengineering. On Aug 28 2007 Rosenergoatom concluded a contract with AEP.

In Feb 2007 the project was offered for public discussion. The public approved the project but made over 100 proposals on how to improve it. All of them have been considered by the designers.

Russia has already built similar reactors in China – Tianwan NPP.

LNPP-2 has even better technical parameters than Belene NPP (Bulgaria), Atomstroyexport’s project meeting all European standards.

Unit 1 of the plant is to be launched in 2013.