OREANDA-NEWS. October 14, 2008. Representatives of the fuel and energy complex, the government and the mass media of Kortoma region visited Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant and the construction site of Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant-2.

Such visits to the construction sites of new nuclear power plants have become a good tradition. In Aug LNPP and Sosnovy Bor received a delegation of Tomssk, in Sept – a delegation of Kaliningrad region.

In 1980s Kostroma region started the construction of a nuclear power plant but the Chernobyl accident put an end to the project, which has had a negative influence on the economic growth of the region.

Today, the situation has changed. The adoption of the federal target program for the development of the nuclear power industry in 2007–2010 and -2015 has given a new hope to the region. The visit of Sosnovy Bor proves that the authorities and residents of Kostroma realize that the shortage of power capacities is the key obstacle to the economic development of the region.

The deputy chief engineer for nuclear safety of Leningrad NPP Konstantian Kurdryavtsev told the guests about the activities of the plant, its work to ensure its safety and to train personnel. One of the journalists asked a traditional question – what was the difference between the reactors of Leningrad and Chernobyl NPPs. Kudryavtsev said that after modernization the reactors of Leningrad NPP had become absolutely different in terms of both physics and safety.

One of the key concerns of the journalist was ecological safety. “The ecological policy of Leningrad NPP is aimed at ensuring a safety level that would guarantee closely controlled emission of radiation within admissible limits. For this purpose, Leningrad NPP has installed 26 radiation control stations the buffer and monitoring zones.”

The head of the administration of Sosnovy Bor Dmitry Pulyayevsky said that the construction of Leningrad NPP-2 was expected to solve a whole number of economic and social problems: water and heat supply, road building, employment (the employment rate in Sosnovy Bor is just 0.3%-0.5%), medical care, professional orientation of youth. The plant is a guarantor of the region’s stable development and a stimulus for long-term investments.

Pulyayevsky said that Rosatom’s investment programs envisage financing of Sosnovy Bor’s social facilities, particularly, projects to finish the construction of a children’s health center and an ice palace, to improve the motor and rail traffic. This may prove to be much bigger than the 10% allocated by the local authorities before 2002.