OREANDA-NEWS. July 7, 2008. Director General of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation Sergey Kiriyenko visited Volgodonsk Nuclear Power Plant and chaired a conference on the final construction of the 2nd unit of the plant.

Director of Atomenergoprom OJSC Vladimir Travin, Director of NIIAEP OJSC Valery Limarenko, Director General of Rosenergoatom Concern Sergey Obozov, Deputy Director of Atomenergoprom OJSC Alexander Apkaneev, Director of Volgodonsk NPP Alexander Palamarchuk, Director General of Atomenergomash OJSC Vladimir Kaschenko, Deputy Director General of Rosenergoatom Concern Alexander Polushkin, Vice Governor-Minister of Industry and Energy of Rostov region Sergey Nazarov and Mayor of Volgodonsk Viktor Firsov took part in the conference.

While summing up the results of the conference Kiriyenko pointed out that the decision to change the general contractor of the project (NIIAEP instead of Rosatomstroy ICC) was quite reasonable as the rate of the work at that moment would not allow finishing the project in time. “Presently, the situation has changed and, today, we can say that we will be able to launch the unit by the end of 2009,” Kiriyenko said.

“I am satisfied with the work of the new contractor. We have all reasons to say that the project will be finished in time but this will require one more year of titanic work,” Kiriyenko said.

During his visit to the construction site Kiriyenko met with journalists from Interfax, Nuclear.ru, RIA Novosti, regional and local mass media, who were interested in the prospects of the construction of new reactors at Volgodonsk NPP and the implementation of the federal target program in the Southern Federal District. Kiriyenko pointed that the federal target program in Southern Federal District would be revised. “We are already revising the program. The general scheme for allocation of power plants in the territory of Russia was adopted half a year later than the program and is different from it,” Kiriyenko said. During the last conference Volgodonsk NPP and NIIAEP suggested changing the time of the launch of the 3rd and 4th units of Volgodonsk NPP from 2014 and 2016 to 2013 and 2014, respectively. Kiriyeniko said that, considering the course of the construction of the 2nd unit and the capacities of the contractor organizations, the suggestion was quite realistic. “I think that this is an absolutely realistic suggestion in terms of technological schedules. I think that this is the result of the anti-crisis work carried out at the 2nd unit of the plant and the contractors’ efforts to build effective relationships.”

The conferees considered the proposal of the general contractor for the possible construction of the 5th and 6th units. Kiriyenko said that the proposal had to be seriously analyzed.