Rosatom planning to start building reactor as part of 'Breakthrough' project by early 2020
TOMSK. July 12 (Interfax) - Rosatom is expecting to receive all the permits it needs to construct the BREST-300 reactor unit as part of the "Breakthrough" project for the creation of an atomic-energy complex based at TVEL's Siberian Chemical Combine and to decide on a contractor by the end of the year, the head of the project, special Rosatom representative Vyacheslav Pershukov, told journalists in Tomsk on Friday.
"First we need to get a construction license. The process is underway, it'll be finished by the end of the year. There's general preparatory work and the construction of the main energy complex. We wanted to announce a competition by the end of this year, we already approximately know all of the participants, but work will begin in earnest once we have the license. We're confident that this will be at the end of this year or the beginning of the next," he said.
In March, TVEL head Natalia Nikipelova said that the construction of the unit could begin this summer, though she also referred to the need to get a license. "We'd like to begin work in the summer season. Funds for this have been allotted, and the work [to be done] is clear. The list of work for getting a license is clear, we don't see any global risks in this, and we're hoping to get it. There's work we can do now, regardless of whether we receive a license, preparatory work. We want to start it this summer, or, at the latest, in the fall," Nikipelova said.
In December 2018, the project was approved by Glavgosexpertiza.
"Breakthrough" began in 2011. Its goal is the creation of an atomic-energy complex and has three stages of construction: the fabrication/refabrication unit, an NPP with a BREST-300 reactor, and a module for processing spent fuel.
The Siberian Chemical Combine is located in Seversk in the Tomsk region.