OREANDA-NEWS. August 07, 2009. Last week Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite appeared with a sensational statement: Lithuania may refuse to build its own nuclear power plant. Lithuania will reconsider its strategy and will decide whether to remain a county generating nuclear energy or to invest money in something else, reported the press-centre of Minatom.

Meanwhile, they in Lithuania are actively discussing the Baltic NPP project to be implemented in the neighboring Kaliningrad region. Lithuanian experts and politicians are mostly suspicious: some of them say that it is a fake, a propaganda campaign, others are worried for the ecology and safety of the region.

Their arguments are that it is a much too serious project, that very little is known about it and that the Russians will do everything in haste and this may lead to unpredictable consequences. Besides, they wonder: what does Kaliningrad region need this plant for? The region has enough power generating capacities and does not need more. So, what is it: Russia’s business project aimed at making the region even more dependent on it or something else?   

Deputy Director General of Energoatom Concern OJSC Sergey Boyarkin has answered this and other questions in an interview to Kurier.lt

Export in three directions
— Mr.Boyarkin, some people in Lithuania believe that Kaliningrad region does not need the energy of Baltic NPP. Are they right? The capacities the region is planning to build by 2016 will give it so much energy that it will no longer need an NPP. Then why are you building it?
— They are not right. By the time the 2nd unit of Thermal Power Plant-2 is launched, the 1st unit will be no longer serviceable. In 2016 Kaliningrad region will need 1GW, while the total capacity of TPP-2 is 900MW with no other modern capacities available.

— Nevertheless, Baltic NPP will produce more energy than the region needs. Where are you going to export the surplus?
— 1/3 of the energy to be produced by Baltic NPP (two reactors with a total capacity of 2.3MW) will be consumed by Kaliningrad region while the rest will be exported in three directions: first — Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, second – Poland, third – Germany. There are two ways to export the energy to Northern Germany: first – via the territory of Poland, second – by means of a cable to be laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea along the Nord Stream gas pipeline. The use of the Nord Stream’s infrastructure will allow us to substantially reduce the cost of the project. The pipeline enters the territory of Germany in an area where they were going to build a big NPP. So, they have all necessary infrastructure for receiving the energy of Baltic NPP. 

— At what stage is the project?
— We have completed the survey work and the feasibility and hazard studies and have started the procedure for obtaining licenses. We are planning to get them by the end of this year. In Jan 2010 we will start preparing the construction site. 
The technical project of the plant is to be ready in Oct 2009. In June 2010 we will get the permission to build the plant. On July 1 2010 we will start the construction. 

Searching for investors
— The Russian mass media say that Russia is ready to sell part of the plant’s shares to a foreign investor but will retain the controlling stake. Can Lithuania buy a 49% stake in Baltic NPP?
— This is the key peculiarity of Baltic NPP. This is the first such project in Russia. A private investor may hope for 49%, at largest. Several big European power companies have already shown interest in the project. I would rather not specify the countries as you will guest at once what companies I am talking about. The only thing I would like to say is that no final decision has been made yet: potential investors will have to submit lots of materials. The technical project will be ready in Oct. After that we will be able to specify financing schedules and to sign documents. I would like to note that we are open to any European investors, and Lithuanians are not an exception. In fact, we are even more interested in attracting Lithuanian investors. It would be good if the investors represented the countries we are going to export our energy to. By the way, they can invest not only in the plant itself but in the networks that will transmit its energy. I think that it would be logical for the Lithuanians to invest in the sales infrastructure. After all, it would hardly be possible to create a normal network in the territory of Lithuania without Lithuanian companies.  

Safety has passed a time-test
— Some ecological movements say that WWER reactors are outdated. They note that this project is already 50 years old. What can you say about this?
— The internal combustion engine was designed by Daimler and Benz almost 100 years ago. The basic design of the engine has never been changed since then. But we can’t say that Mercedes is not safe, can we? Pressurized water reactor is a domineering type of reactor in the world. In Russia PWR is called WWER (VVER). The overwhelming majority of the world’s nuclear reactors are based on this project. The basic schemes of the Russian and European reactors are very much alike. The prototype of WWER-1000 was designed long time ago and has been tested at lots of NPPs in Russia and in the former Socialist republics. Most of the Ukrainian NPPs operate WWER reactors. They produce almost half of Ukraine’s energy and allow that country to actively develop its heavy industry.   

Besides, WWER reactors are operated in the territory of the European Union and cannot but meet the modern safety standards. This technology is being actively developed and, today, we have designed its evolutionary version, which is very safe. What I want to say is that the WWER-2006 project is by far safer than the project applied in the Soviet Union. The initial project was V-320. It was applied at Zaporizhia and Balakovo NPPs, which are among the most efficient plants in the world.

The project applied at Tianwan NPP is the next stage of this project. Tianwan has been recognized as one of the safest NPPs in the world. In 2004 we developed project 9199 – an improved version of the project applied at Tianwan. We harmonized this project with the EU requirements and in 2004 it took part in a tender in Finland. Later we won a tender in Bulgaria, which is also an EU member. The NPP-2006 is an evolutionary product of these projects. It is even safer than Tianwan and Belene NPPs. In Russia it is being implemented at Leningrad NPP-2 in Sosnovy Bor, Leningrad region. Baltic NPP will be a copy of Leningrad NPP-2.

— Some Lithuanian media say that Baltic NPP will be built under international air corridors. The plant is said to be able to endure the fall of a 20-ton plane but today we have no such planes.
— Yes, there are a couple of air routes in this area but in Europe air routes are everywhere. Nevertheless, the Research Institute of Air Navigation has held a survey and has calculated that the probability of the fall of a plane on Baltic NPP is less than once in 10,000,000 years or more than once in 1,000,000 years. The second obligatory requirement is that an NPP should not be built near an airport as most of the air crashes occur at the moment when the plane is taking off or landing. In the case of Baltic NPP the nearest airport is 50km away with the admissible limit being 7.5km. So, we have no grounds for concern.

It should be noted that the abovementioned calculations are based on the theory of a solid body falling with at a specific speed. Plane is not an absolutely solid body. I have seen the results of the test conducted by Energoproject (Prague): a WWER-1000 reactor survived the fall of a Boeing-747. The most solid objects on a plane are engines but they do not weight 20 tons.

The plant has several safety barriers: containment – a reinforced concrete case, and nuclear reactor, a high-endurance unit of high-duty steel with the width of the walls being 400mm. Just to compare, the armor of a tank is much thinner. That is, destruction of the containment does not meant destruction of the reactor.
 
Ecology and energy security
— Our people are concerned that the presence of such a facility just ten kilometers away from Lithuania may seriously change the ecological situation in the region. Where exactly will the plant be built and will it affect the local ecology?
— The plant will be built in Neman district 15 km away from Lithuania. Modern NPPs have just 800-meter buffer zones. According to IAEA’s guidelines, each NPP undergoes an accident probability analysis. Presently, the accident probability rate at an NPP is one accident in 10,000,000 years. But even in case of an accident, the radius of the area that will need evacuation is 800 meters. The point is that modern NPPs have melted core traps. This system was first applied in China. That’s exactly why Tianwan NPP is regarded as one of the safest in the world. Leningrad NPP-2 and Baltic NPP will have similar traps.  

Safety systems are the most expensive elements of an NPP with almost 40% of the total sum spent on them. We have well learned the lesson of Chernobyl: the safety requirements have been seriously toughened. In fact, we have changed the very concept of safety. Present NPPs have systems protecting the plant from willing or unwilling actions of the personnel. That is, if any worker decides to switch off the safety system, the plant will automatically be stopped. So, I can say with confidence that our nuclear power plants are among the safest in the world.

Let’s not forget that any power plant working on fossil fuel emits radio-nuclides. Coals are also radioactive and emit radiation when burned. So, in terms of ecology, any thermal power plant is more harmful than an NPP.

— Let’s assume that the Lithuanian authorities give up their plans to build own NPP and will decide to invest in Baltic NPP project. Won’t this make Lithuania even more dependent on Russia? Today, Lithuania is fully dependent on the supplies of Russian gas and oil and if we add to it electricity we will fall into absolute dependence. Can anybody guarantee that, one day, following some political disagreement, Russia will not switch off the line and Lithuania will not be left without energy? Many people in Lithuania say that Russia has already punished Lithuania once for its persistence by stopping the transfer of oil via Druzhba pipelines. The Russians said that it was a breakdown but nobody did anything to prevent it.
— If Lithuania becomes our permanent customer, nobody will stop the supplies. No operator will agree to incur losses. We are going to built special networks for the plant and to invite foreign investors to take part in this work. So, the networks may well belong to a Lithuanian company if it invests money in their construction. We will jointly control the networks and repair them so as to avoid leaving Lithuania without electricity. We may co-own both the networks and the plant – it is for Lithuanian investors to choose. We are inviting investors because Baltic NPP is an international project. It would be naive to expect somebody to let us into their market unless we let investors into our business.

Today, we are considering supply schemes. We already have over 10 schemes covering Kaliningrad region and the abovementioned three directions. These scenarios will be discussed at a technical conference in Svetlogorsk in mid Aug. We have invited Lithuanian, Polish and German investors as well as representatives of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, the Ministry of Energy, Energoatom Concern, Inter RAO, System Operator. We will discuss the technical aspects of Baltic NPP project. The most preferable ones will undergo one more assessment as investment projects. 

— When are you planning to finish the project?
— According to our schedule, the 1st unit will be launched in 2016, the 2nd one – in 2018. In fact, we are ahead of the schedule. Our target is 2016 as European experts say that after 2015 the Baltic region will run short of energy. The two main reasons are the shut-down of Ignalina Nuclear power Plant and the closure of several facilities stipulated by Kyoto Protocol.

Did you ask for Lithuania’s advice?
— Why didn’t you translate the preliminary environmental impact assessment of Baltic NPP project into different languages, particularly, into Lithuanian, considering that Lithuania is the closest neighbor of Kaliningrad region? During the public hearings on Visaginas NPP (plant that is supposed to be built near Ignalina NPP) we translated the report into Russian so that our neighbors be aware of the project.
— The document you translated into Russian was not an environmental impact assessment. Different projects have different parameters and different impacts on the environment. In Russia such analyses are carried out for specific plants at special sites. As far as I know, you have not yet selected the project so it was some abstract document. Such projects require quite big money. In 2009 we will spent over 1bln RUR. This money will be spent on engineering, area planning, etc.. Even though, just like the United States, we have not ratified the Convention on Trans-Frontier Cooperation, stipulating that foreign countries should be informed about nuclear energy projects, we have invited representatives of 10 consulates to take part in the public hearings. We are implementing all procedures stipulated by the Convention and are giving information to all concerned parties. Particularly, we have received a request from Latvia and have confirmed that very soon that country will get all necessary data.