"Ekozaschita": "Rosatom" to build obsolete power units at Rostov NPP

Power Units Nos. 3 and 4, planned to be built by the "Rosatom" (Russian nuclear power agency) at the Rostov Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), are outdated and have no double protective shells, which is a threat to the population of Volgodonsk. This is the conclusion of the "Ekozaschita" (Environment protection) made after the public hearing held yesterday, on February 17.

"In any other country, without modern safety systems, nuclear experts would have never been even talked to," Andrei Ozharovskiy, nuclear physicist and expert of the "Ekozaschita" group, made his comments after he took part in the Volgodonsk hearing.

According to designers' information, they plan to implement a morally obsolete project at the Rostov NPP, which was adopted back in 1979.

The participants of the hearing tried to bring attention to the fact that the Law on Use of Nuclear Power (Article 33) demands to envisage in a nuclear power project "the procedure and measures for decommissioning of power units." However, the document presented for discussion, namely, the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report, failed to consider the NPP decommissioning issue; thus, nobody knows what to with thousands of tons of radioactive wastes.

Also, the EIA fails to consider the issue of handling used nuclear fuel - the most hazardous type of radioactive waste.

In case of a heavy accident at the NPP, evacuation of the whole Volgodonsk will be required; and it needs that the road network be updated, including construction of a new bridge across the gulf; also, the so-called "protected water supply" for 170,000 citizens should be guaranteed. According to the local Civil Defence and Emergency Services, the "Rosatom" refuses to allocate funds for addressing these problems.

At the same time, the "Rosatom" reporters have emphasized that the most advanced equipment and safety systems will be used at construction of the new units. The units Nos. 3 and 4, as they asserted, will be built with account of utmost protection against earthquakes.

The website of the "Rosenergoatom" reports that the hearing attracted over 1700 persons, including representatives of public organizations, labour collectives, business community, city administration and city duma, ecology and public health experts, and specialists in construction and operation of industrial enterprises.