Yuri Semchenkov, Director of Nuclear Reactors Institute

– Nobody doubted that Russia would built two more units at Tianwan NPP

Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation and China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation have signed a memorandum for the construction of two more units at Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant. The document has been signed by the prime ministers of Russia and China. The memorandum also envisages the construction of the fourth gas centrifuge plant in China and the building of an experimental fast-breeder reactor.

I did not doubt that Russia would build two more units at Tianwan NPP. I would like to note that a few days ago we successfully completed one more stage of testing at Tianwan NPP. The Chinese perfectly know that the Russians may be slow to start but they always keep their promises. I am sure that this is not the last NPP construction contract between Russia and China.

The reactors of Tianwan NPP are quite good. I don’t know yet if the 3rd and 4th units will be of the same design. I think that it would be better of they were built under the NPP-2006 project, which is presently being applied at Leningrad NPP-2 and Novovoronezh NPP-2. The reactors of LNPP-2 are logical follow-up on the Tianwan NPP project.

I welcome the continuation of our cooperation with China. The Chinese are making more and more contracts with us, which means that they trust us. The more contracts we have the more countries will ask us to build NPPs in their territories. We have already won tenders to complete the construction of two reactors of Khmelnitsky NPP in Ukraine and to build Belene NPP in Bulgaria and will most probably win the right to build a nuclear power plant in Turkey.

The memorandum also envisages the building of an experimental fast-breeder reactor. Fast-breeder reactors are reactors of the future as they close the fuel cycle. Naturally, we need such demonstration reactors for showing the capacities of our new technologies. Russia already has an operating fast-breeder reactor.

We will always face rivalry and in order to win we must quickly produce new technologies and build NPP-2006. Presently, we are working on a new project – super-WWER, a reactor of new generation with a high general capacity.