Olga Seliverstova, State Duma deputy (Untied Russia party)

– No nuclear accident is possible today!

In the past decades the Soviet reactors have proved their efficiency and safety. They have operated for thousands of reactor/hours so far. And if some 10 years ago the probability of an accident was 10 -4, today, it is 10 –7, while the safety of NPPs has been raised hundredfold. In other words, no nuclear accident is possible today. Rostekhandzor regularly inspects the facilities and each time reports less and less incidents. No single big nuclear accident has taken place in Russia in the last 20 years, with just 40 insignificant incidents happening a year on an average. This is one of the best indices in the world!

As regards the past emergency training at Leningrad NPP, I would like to note that its scenario was fantastic. It was a coincidence of incredible situations: several critical failures and an external impact (a crawler crane falling on a cable rack and damaging the service water supply system) at one time. The key problem was a failure of the reactor’s cooling system. It was a very hard situation but the personnel were really perfect. The scenario envisaged aggravation of the situation but nothing of that kind would have happened in reality.