According to the city administration decree on March 15 there were held public hearings on license grounding for Rostov NPP No.1 power unit operation at a capacity of 104 percent from nominal capacity rate.

The event was held in the “round table” format. It was attended by designers and specialists in the field of operation of the Rostov NPP, representatives from “Rosenergoatom Concern”, state and independent environmental organizations, local authorities, healthcare bodies and public organizations, mass media and citizens.

 “Raising the capacity of the operating power units with the unconditional priority of safety ensuring is a national task”, - stressed Rostov NPP director Andrey Salnikov. He noted that the No.1 power unit operates at a capacity of 104% since 2009. Updating of equipment and safety improving of the power unit operation preceded his trial operation at an increased capacity. The results have shown that increasing the No.1 power unit capacity up to 104 % didn’t influence on integrity and safety level of the nuclear power plant.

As Elena Kudryavtseva, a senior engineer of the “Atomenergoproyekt” OJSC, noticed, as a result of the increased capacity level operation of the No.1 power unit of Rostov NPP the ecological state of Rostov NPP region, which is currently characterized as environmentally prosperous, will not change.

Giving an estimation to the “round table” hearings the Volgodonsk City Duma Chairman Peter Gorchanyuk drew the organizers’ attention to the strict following the Russian legislation and the local standard regulations. He also highlighted the challenges that face today nuclear experts and stressed that the necessity of increasing the nuclear power generation on the South of Russia is caused by energy shortfall, which persists in the region and has a tendency to increase as the region is developing dynamically.

In March of the last year there were held public hearings on preliminary materials version of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Rostov NPP No.1 power unit operation with a pile assembly capacity of 104% from nominal capacity rate. The public hearings records and package of proposals were submitted to the state environmental review for inclusion in the final EIA version.  

The Rostov NPP is a branch of “Rosenergoatom Concern” OJSC. The enterprise is situated on the bank of the Tsimlyansk Reservoir at 13,5 km from Volgodonsk. The NPP operates two power units with VVER-1000 reactors with the capacity of 1000 MW. The power unit No.1 was commissioned in 2001 and the power unit No.2 – in December 2010. The power units No.3 and 4 are under construction.