Grigory Naginsky, the chairman of the Federation Council Sub-Committee on Nuclear Energy

– The new units of Novovoronezh NPP have no alternative

The launch of the NovNPP-2 project is a remarkable event. This is the start – the first stone — of the Federal Target Program.

The construction of such a big facility (the two units will cost almost 120bln RUR) will certainly boost the development of the nearby areas and create new jobs for the local population. The participants in the project will get worthy wages: this means that the graduates of the local specialized universities will enjoy an excellent employment opportunity at home and will no longer need to seek better paid jobs somewhere else.

As far as I understand, now that we are gradually reducing the share of gas, nuclear energy is becoming a non-alternative source of energy. Wind and other sources are not serious substitutes for gas. So, the new units of Novovoronezh NPP have no alternatives.

Presently, RAO UES and Rosatom are drafting the so-called road map: they are considering where it is most expedient to build NPPs. Novovoronezh NPP is on this map because it is an essential facility and because all of its units are old and need to be gradually replaced.

I think that the regions hosting NPPs should develop their networks so as to prevent downtimes for several months a year. When somebody says that a plant cannot work, it means that it has no necessary networks and substations.

Novovoronezh NPP-2 is an inalienable part of the federal nuclear energy development program, which means that it has an excellent development prospect.