OREANDA-NEWS. November 2, 2007. By 2015 the Russian Government will spend 17.5bln RUR to solve safety problems at Mayak Production Association, the head of Rosatom Sergey Kiriyenko said after a conference at the plant on Wednesday.

He said that in July 2007 the Government adopted a federal target program for ensuring nuclear and radiation safety in Russia in 2008–2015. The nuclear facilities of Ural Federal District will get 23bln RUR under the program. Of this sum 17.5bln RUR will be allocated for safety projects at Mayak.

Kiriyenko said that during the conference at Mayak he heard reports about the fulfillment of the tasks set half a year before, particularly, on the work to reinforce the dam of the 11th reservoir of Techa cascade. “Now, the dam is very safe,” Kiriyenko said.

Now it has the so-called concrete tooth – a system preventing water infiltration. “So, we can be sure that the dam will not collapse and no service water will get into Techa River. It was the most urgent problem. Now, it has been solved,” Kiriyenko said.

The whole dam reinforcement project is to be finished by Dec 1.

The conferees also discussed the project for the voluntary resettlement of the residents of the village of Muslumovo. Over 500 households have already decided where they will move and have applied for 1mln RUR compensation. Of them, over 300 families have got the money and are purchasing houses in Chelyabinsk region and other areas. Particularly, 108 families have bought flats in Chelyabinsk.

“What I am mostly concerned about is that the remaining 200 families are lingering. Perhaps, they are waiting for some additional money. I would like to say that they will get nothing in addition to 1mln RUR. They better hurry up: 1,000,000 RUR in 2006 and in 2007, 2008 or 2009 is quite different money as the housing prices are growing very quickly.”

Kiriyenko said that the specialists of the Snezhinsk Federal Nuclear Center are presently considering possible sites for South-Ural NPP, a plant to be built under the federal nuclear energy development program by 2020. “We have instructed machinery builders to produce turbines, reactor shell and steam generator for the plant,” Kiriyenko said.

“Unlike the initial project – two units with fast-breeder reactors – now we are planning to build four units with WWER-1000 reactors.”

“The experts were at variance, so, Mr. Sumin (the governor of the region) and I agreed that the final verdict will be passed by the people trusted by both Rosatom and the regional administration – the professionals of the Federal Nuclear Center in Snezhinsk,” Kiriyenko said.

He pointed out that before selecting the site the experts will carry out thorough geological research. “The site should be seismically safe and should have access to water resources. The soil in the area should be stable so the plant could work there for 60 years. The results of the research will be submitted to Rosatom,” Kiriyenko said.