October 29 – There was held a public presentation of the report on the environmental-related activity of Balakovo NPP for 2011. The environmental report was presented as part of the work of the regular meeting under Head of Administration of Balakovo municipal district. The meeting was attended by representatives of local authorities, deputies of the City Council and district Assembly, heads of enterprises and organizations of the city, representatives of supervising authorities, public and media.



Delivering the report, Chief Executive Officer of the Public Information Centre of Balakovo NPP, Yuri Terekhov, marked that Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation, recently considered as one of the most secret organizations, that day was open to the authorities and public. And an example of this was a presentation of the annual report on the environment-related activity, which for the first time was held in public at all nuclear power plants of Russia. This work is held within the frame of the currently realized active information policy of Rosenergoatom Concern.

“Balakovo NPP pays particular attention to the environment protection. During five consecutive years it received a title of “The Leader of the Nature Conservation Activity of Russia”. For 27 years of work Balakovo NPP had no any case of violation of the environmental legislation,” stressed Chief Executive Officer of PIC. 

Particular attention was paid by Yuri Terekhov to the issue of units’ power ascension to 104% - this is the basic “atomic” topic, which nowadays worries Balakovo residents. Yuri Leonidovich with the help of visual schemes explained what the power ascension was necessary for, what processes in the reactor’s operation it effected and what annual effects the energy system and the economy of the country in general received as a result.

“One of the important parameters influencing on the reliability and safety of the equipment - pressure in the primary and secondary coolant circuits – does not depend on what power the reactor operates with,” marked Yuri Leonidovich, who for many years had worked as an NPP shift chief. “The reactors themselves and main thermal-mechanical equipment of Balakovo NPP are originally designed with sufficient power reserve. In addition, for two years all 4 units have been operating at 104% capacity in the mode of pilot operation, and Unit 2 – for 4 years (two of them – in the pilot operation). This is a total of ten reactor-years – the time enough to make a conclusion that the power ascension of units does not influence on safe operation of the plant.”

Everyone present in the meeting received detailed materials of the report in respect of the environmental safety of Balakovo NPP for 2011.