TL: BRIEFING ON RUSSIAN NUCLEAR EXPANSION PLANS. SO: Greenpeace International (GP) DT: May 19, 1993 Keywords: nuclear power pushing plans russia construction energy policy gp background / On December 28th 1992, the Government of the Russian Federation passed a degree on the question of the construction of Nuclear Power Plants on the territory of the Russian Federation. The degree basically adopts a proposal put forward by the Ministry of Fuel and Energy and the Ministry of Atomic Energy put drafted in the summer of 1992. The Decree calls for the construction or completion of up to 26 reactors in the next 20 years, the major projects to be undertaken are listed below. Also included in the plan is the closure of all the earliest generation of pressurised water reactors (VVER 440/213s) and some of the earlier Chernobyl design reactors (RBMKs). It orders the funding of the project from the central state capital investment fund, financed from the republican budget of the Russian Federation. In 1993, however, the financing will also come from the an extra-budgetary special fund, brought in specially for the purpose. At present there is no information of the projected cost of this programme. It has been noted that the tying up of hundreds of billions of roubles from the Federal budget, with long term, if any, pay back periods, which will act not only to increase inflation but also tie up valuable resources which might otherwise be used for social sources. Soon after the publication of the Decree, Alexi Yablokov, the environmental advisor to President Yeltsin, stated that the introduction of combined heat and power gas turbine stations, would be many times cheaper than the proposed nuclear plan. He also stated that energy efficiency could potentially replace 2 to 3 times the power which will be lost as stations are decommis- sioned, which would be far cheaper as well as less environmental- ly damaging. At the present time the uncertainty of Russia's economy and the massive over use of energy (the country uses between 2 and 5 times as much energy per unit of Gross National Product as in Western Europe), the proposal is going down the wrong road to achieve an environmentally friendly and stable energy future. Russia's 20 year Nuclear Plant Construction Plan. Reactor Type Unit Name Operating Target. VVER 1000 [1] Balakovo-4 1993 (Started up May 11) Kalinin-3 by 1995 RBMK 1000[2] Kursk-5 by 1995 LWGR 32 MW [3] Bilibino-5 2001-5 Bilibino-6 2001-5 Bilibino-7 2006-10 VVER 1000 [4] Novovoronezh-6 2001-5 Pz Novovoronezh-7 2001-5 VVER 630 [5] Kola-5 2001-5 Kola-6 2001-5 Kola-7 2006-10 VVER 1000 [6] Balakovo-5 by 2000 Balakovo-6 by 2000 AST 500 [7] Voronezh-1 Voronezh-2 BN 800 [8] South Urals-1 around 2005 South Urals-2 around 2010 South Urals-3 after 2015 Beloyarsk-4 after 2000 VVER 600 [9] Far East-1 around 2010 Primorskaya-1 around 2010 AST 500 [10] Khabarovsk-1 around 2010 Pilot V 630 [11] Leningrad-5 around 2010 VVER 1000 Kostroma-1 Kostroma-2 Kostroma-3 Kostroma-4 Notes. [1] The just started Balakovo-4 reactor is only working at a fraction of its capacity, due to no demand for power. [2] Kursk-5 is an RBMK reactor, of similar design to the unit 4 at Chernobyl which exploded in 1986. Insignificant changes have been introduced into the design. Consequently Kursk will be completed as a "modernized graphite moderated water cooled reactor". Anxious to avoid the same abbreviation as the Chernobyl reactor future similar designed reactors will be called MKER. [3] At present there are 4 x 12Mw early designed RMBK reactors brought on line between 1973-76. The 3 proposed units will replace and enlarge the existing station. [4] At present there are 3 reactors in operation on the site, which is located in a highly seismic area. Units 3 and 4 are the VVER 440/213 and unit 5 a VVER 1000. The first two units are scheduled for decommissioning in the 'near term'. [5] At Kola, the existing two VVER 440/213 units will be decommissioned in the near term and replacement power provided by this new design and size of VVER. [6] Units 5 and 6 at the Balakovo site, will in the near term continue to be 'conserved' (ie. construction will not continue, but the buildings and equipment kept in such a way they will be usable in the future) with construction re-starting at a later date. [7] These reactors are used for district heating (there are no similar reactors in the West). Voronezh is a large city close to Novovoronezh (South East of Moscow). In the past construction was halted due to massive public protest. [8] The continuation of the Russian fast breeder programme is in contradiction to the majority of experiences in the West, where the fast breeder programme has all but stopped in the UK, Germany and United States. [9] In both regions, public opposition between 1988-92 forced the cancellation of plans for construction of nuclear power plants. The decree calls for research to be undertaken in 1992-5 into the construction of 2 units. The design of reactors chosen will be a new generation of unit, so called passive safety reactors. [10] Once again public opposition (1988-90) forced the cancellation of plans. The decree calls for research, 1992-5, into the siting of these district heating reactors in the Far East. [11] Research will be carried out into the siting of this pilot reactor at the existing site at Sosnovy Bor (St Petersburg), between 1992-5. The reactors will be used to replace the existing RBMKs following their decommissioning. =end=