OREANDA-NEWS. The construction site of Central NPP - in Yaroslavl or Kostroma regions - will be determined in the near future, the chairman of the Sub-Committee on Nuclear Energy of the State Duma Committee on Energy, Transport and Communication Viktor Opekunov said during a press-conference, reported the press-centre of Rosatom.

He said that the general scheme for the construction of power plants in Russia till 2020 is to be approved during this autumn. The section concerning nuclear power plants still has some uncertainties. Particularly, there is controversy over Central NPP. RAO UES suggests building it in Yaroslavl region, while Rosatom - in Kostroma, where it has a ready site. “I think that this problem will be solved shortly. In my opinion, it is better to build the plant in Kostroma,” Opekunov said. There is one more moot point - the completion of the 5th RBMK reactor of Kursk NPP.

“We have not decided yet what we are going to do with the energy produced by the unit. When launching the project, the Soviet authorities planned a transit via Ukraine. Financing is also a problem. The project needs 18bln RUR. So, we have to negotiate it with the Finance Ministry. I think that this problem will also be resolved in the near future,” Opekunov said. If the Government agrees to provide financing in 2009, in 2008 Rosenergoatom will begin to mobilize credits and own funds for restarting the project so as to finish it by 2011. “According to the general scheme, we are to build Southern Ural NPP, most probably, in Bashkortostan, Primorsk NPP in the Far East and Seversk NPP in Tomsk region.”

Presently, Rosenergoatom is completing the 2nd unit of Rosatov NPP, the fourth unit of Kalinin NPP and the BN-800 unit of Beloyarsk NPP. According to the federal target program for nuclear, by 2015 we are to start the construction of Novovoronezh NPP-2 and Leningrad NPP-2. The federal target program is part of the general scheme and is estimated at 1.5trl RUR (800bln RUR from the budget).

Opekunov said that presently Rosatom is considering a concept of federal target program “Power Technologies of New Generation” - a project aimed at using advanced nuclear technologies in the production of energy.