Rosenergoatom (part of the Electric Power Division of Rosatom State Corporation) implements a set of measures to protect the environment and ensure environmental safety. In 2020, Rosenergoatom allocated 5.470 billion rubles for these purposes, which is 1.166 billion more than in 2019 (4.304 billion rubles).

This amount includes, among other things, expenditures for protecting atmospheric air and preventing climate change, preserving biodiversity and protecting natural areas, ensuring radiation safety, collecting and treating wastewater, waste management, research activities and developments to reduce negative anthropogenic impacts and other activities in the sphere of environmental protection.

In 2020, a number of environmental protection measures were carried out at the operating NPPs, including: modernization of the chemical water treatment system at the Beloyarsk NPP, complete overhaul of gas blower No. 3 and No. 4 and the sand map of the treatment facilities of the Kola NPP, scheduled preventive maintenance of treatment facilities at the Smolensk NPP.

In 2020, the NPP carried out numerous planned works on the stocking of cooling ponds, as well as measures for the reproduction of aquatic biological resources. For example, at the Balakovo NPP, the cooling pond was stocked with young silver carp with a total weight of 12,400 kg, and at the Smolensk NPP with a two-year old silver carp in the amount of 16,700 kg and 13,800 kg of a two-year old grass carp.

“The Rosenergoatom industrial environmental control system develops and improves every year, which is confirmed by the annual improvement in the indicators of the NPP's environmental impact. Today, the share of nuclear power plants in the volume of pollutants emitted into the air by all enterprises of the Russian Federation has been less than 0.009% for many years,” said Andrey Pechkurov, chief technologist of the Rosenergoatom Emergency Preparedness and Radiation Protection Department.

The volumes of emissions of pollutants into the air, far from exceeding the permissible values, = are also significantly lower than the limits established by the environmental authorities. In 2020, their volume amounted to 935 tons, or only 13.9% of the permitted. At the same time, the main share of emissions is accounted not for the nuclear power plants themselves, but for auxiliary production: auxiliary boilers, boilers of health care centers and standby diesel generator stations periodically switched on for routine testing.

All Russian nuclear power plants carry out their activities strictly within the framework of the environmental legislation of the Russian Federation. In 2020, certified environmental management systems (EMS) of the Rosenergoatom headquarters and operating NPPs have successfully passed inspection (recertification) audits, confirming the effective functioning and continuous improvement of the EMS and full compliance with national and international environmental standards.