Sergey Myakov, Chairman of the Committee on Energy Complex and Municipal Housing Economy of the Government of Leningrad region, candidate of technical sciences

— LNPP-2 project is vital for us

I have attended the public hearings of many projects (Baltic pipeline systems, Northern-European gas pipeline, etc).

I have liked this particular discussion. It had a really huge audience, and everybody was interested: ecologists and greens had their concerns, the population theirs.

Unfortunately, the world community has not resolved the problem of alternative energy sources so far. This makes nuclear energy increasingly non-alternative: we will hardly be able to offer anything more interesting and ecologically safe in the near future. Even though some countries, particularly, Germany, say that nuclear energy is not their priority, we are already receiving reports that Germany may well go back to nuclear energy. More and more governmental and public organizations in that country are beginning to advocate nuclear energy development.    

LNPP-2 is a vital project for us. Let’s remember some of the figures given during the hearings: LNPP has produced 800bln KWh in 40 years. Just to compare, today, Leningrad region consumes 12bln KWh a year.

So, we obviously need energy generation. The region is quickly developing: in 2006 our industry grew by 26%, which is very good. In the last 5 years, we have had a stable 20% annual growth. We have a lot of construction projects. All this requires additional electricity. That’s why the decision of Rosatom to build LNPP-2 is quite timely. 

In any case, such hearings are useful: ordinary people living in NPP areas have the right to ask questions about safety and development and get answers to them.