OREANDA-NEWS. Novovoronezh NPP hosted a public discussion of the prospects of the construction of new NNPP-2 units. Representatives of political and public organizations of Voronezh region and Novovoronezh, government agencies and local administrations took part in the roundtable. Among the guests were the advisor of the head of Rosatom Igor Konyshev, the chief engineer of NNPP-2 project Alexander Kuchumov, the director of the Project and Design Office of Rosenergoatom Sergey Yegorov and the chairman of the State Duma Sub-Committee on Nuclear Energy Viktor Opekunov.

- Today we can say for sure that the construction of the two new units of NNPP-2 is a decided thing. The project will be officially launched on June 20. Today, our economy is developing very quickly and is running increasingly short of energy. So, this project will help us to solve this problem.

The director of Novovoronezh NPP Vyacheslav Vikin said that NNPP-2 will be built in just five years.

- The first unit will be ready by 2012, the second one by 2013, Vikin said.

The director of the Project and Design Office of Rosenergoatom Sergey Yegorov told the audience about the financial and technical aspects of the project.

- Over 6,500 people will be involved in the construction of the plant, over 1,000 in its operation. This project will help us to solve the energy problem in your region. The electricity produced by the plant will be 20-30% cheaper than the one produced by TPPs. Your budget will get as much as 90bln RUR in tax revenues. NNPP-2 is a business project: it is a compromise, a way for us to find a balance between our wish to improve WWER and the need to respond to the challenges of the energy market, Yegorov said.

NNPP-2 is an improved model of WWER-1000 - a successful serial project widely applied in Russia, Ukraine and abroad.

- All of our improvements have one key purpose - to enhance nuclear safety. We have achieved this goal by upgrading reactors and introducing new safety systems, the chief engineer of NNPP-2 project Andrey Kuchumov.

The reports by Rosatom representatives were followed by reports by Voronezh region officials.

- NNPP has an important role for our city while NNPP-2 will be important for the whole region. New energy capacities will make our region attractive. Investors will put money in our industry only when they make sure that there is sufficient energy for it, the first vice speaker of the Voronezh region Duma Tatiana Mescheryakova said.

In her report the chief state sanitarian for Novovoronezh Tatiana Sokolova analyzed the ecological and health situation in Novovoronezh.

- The average individual irradiation dose at Novovoronezh NPP is 12 times lower than the admissible level and is being gradually reduced. No single instance of professional disease has been registered at the plant in the last 30 years. The demographic situation in Novovoronezh is much better than in Russia. The mortality rate is 1,3 times lower than in Voronezh and Russia-wide. The analysis of the ecological situation in the 30-zone shows that the plant has no negative impact on the environment.

The report of the chief of the medical-sanitary service N33 Gennady Roldugin contained similar conclusions.

- Novovoronezh NPP has no impact on our city and the health of our residents. In Novovoronezh morbidity is the same as anywhere in Russia. Our top three diseases are cardio-vascular problems, oncology and traumas.

The key result of the discussion is that all the concerned parties, Rosenergoatom, Voronezh region and Novovoronezh, have expressed commitment to jointly develop nuclear power engineering in the region.

- The region is beginning to develop and this project is a kind of locomotive for this process. We are trying to synchronize technical and social development wherever we work as much as it is possible under the present legislative and financial conditions, the advisor of the head of Rosatom Igor Konyshev said while summing up the results of the meeting.