Rosatom to ensure full operational readiness at Kursk NPP-2 by year's end - CEO

YEKATERINBURG. Nov 15 (Interfax) - Rosatom state corporation will prepare Kursk NPP-2 for reactor start-up by the end of this year, the corporation's CEO Alexei Likhachev told journalists in Yekaterinburg on Friday.

"Regarding the construction of the Kursk NPP, the main task before the end of the year is to ensure full operational readiness for the start-up stage - to essentially complete all construction work and transition to commissioning. I am certain that we will complete this task [of achieving] 100% readiness for reactor start-up by the end of the year," he said.

Kursk NPP-2 is a replacement plant that includes two units with a capacity of 1,255 MW each. Their construction is being carried out as part of the Design and Construction of Reference Nuclear Power Plant Power Units federal project, which is part of the Development of Equipment, Technologies and Scientific Research for the Use of Atomic Energy in the Russian Federation for the Period through 2024 comprehensive program.

The National Antiterrorist Committee announced the start of an anti-terrorist operation in the Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions on August 10.