OREANDA-NEWS. August 09, 2011. Lithuanian journalists who visited a branch of Rosenergoatom Concern – Directorate of Baltic NPP under Construction” – noted openness of representatives of the Russian nuclear industry and their willingness to answer any questions concerning the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kaliningrad Region, reported the press-centre of ROSATOM.

During a tour to the construction site where pre-construction work is in progress and at a media conference, representatives of ROSATOM, Rosenergoatom Concern, INTER RAO UES, and St. Petersburg Atomenergoproekt answered to all journalists’ questions.

The journalists’ prime interest was safety. Sergey Svetlov, the Chief Engineer of the Project at SPb AEP, noted that according to the Russian regulations a site is considered appropriate to place a nuclear power plant if it is possible to ensure its safe operation considering natural and man-induced processes, factors and phenomena, if the environment and general public are protected from radiation impacts arising from normal operation and design basis accidents, and if these impacts are substantially limited in case of beyond design basis accidents. The selected site fully meets all these requirements. As regards seismic studies the journalists were too keen on, a representative of the architect organization said that all available information had been taken into account and, moreover, additional studies had been done and seismic monitoring has been underway for three years already in seven points of the site.

Maxim Kozlov, the Head of the Baltic NPP Project at INTER RAO UES, told about electricity delivery system on the micro- and macro-regional scale. According to Kozlov, Italy, Poland, Germany and Latvia, as well as a number of Lithuanian companies, were showing interest in the project. Russian representatives shortly would be able to start negotiations with potential investors, since a bankable feasibility study is nearly complete.

During the meeting a special focus was placed on the fact that Russia was ready for the negotiations, including with Lithuania and would welcome its participation in the project.

On behalf of the Lithuanian journalists, a Kauno diena’s reporter Arunas Dambrauskas thanked ROSATOM and Rosenergoatom Concern for the tour, emphasizing that “the Lithuanian journalists have received all information they were interested in full scope” and that they “will certainly tell about everything to their readers who include many businessmen.”

Anatoly Ivanov of the Litovskiy kurier newspaper also noted: “In Russia we have an opportunity to get information from both top managers and construction workers in field. Today, having received the bulk of information we have got evidence of this once again. And we have been made certain that Baltic nuclear power plant is absolutely real and the work is underway, and that Lithuania, evidently, has to take this into account, since it is not just a matter of openness of information but also openness of the Russian party as regards participation of foreign investors in the project.”