Rostekhnadzor complaints against Boguchany Hydro relatively minor
SOCHI. Oct 14 (Interfax) - The Federal Environmental, Technological and Atomic Oversight Service (Rostekhnadzor) has a number of complaints against the construction of the Boguchany Hydropower Plant, which is being built on a 50-50 basis by RusHydro and UC Rusal, but expects them to be addressed in good time, the head of the regulator, Nikolai Kutyin said on Thursday.
"We have a certain set of criticisms within the context of the construction of Boguchany HPP. They are being eliminated by the builder and the owner. I hope that by the time the compliance report is received everything will comply with project decisions and the levels of safety specified in standards, regulations and the design of this station itself," Kutyin told reporters.
Earlier, at the urging of environmentalists, the prosecutor of Krasnoyarsk Territory's Kezhemsky district filed a lawsuit in district court against JSC Boguchany HPP on the grounds that, according to environmental organizations, the plant is being built without approved government evaluation documentation. The legal proceedings began on September 30, environmentalists reported. The prosecutor is asking the court to declare that the company's avoidance of conducting an environmental impact assessment for Boguchany HPP was illegal, the WWF said in a press release.
Kutyin said the construction of the hydro plant has not been completed yet. "When the organization asks us for a compliance report, then we will make a final finding," he said.
RusHydro said earlier that it does not see any risk of construction on the plant being suspended in connection with the lawsuit filed at the urging of environmentalists. "The Boguchany HPP project underwent all the necessary approvals and was approved by a ruling of [state environmental review office] Glavgosexpertiza in 1979, and construction of the plant began in 1980. At present, construction of Boguchany HPP is being carried out according to an approved project with a number of changes aimed at improving the level of safety of the hydropower plant. These changes in the project do not impact the technical and economic performance indicators of the HPP, therefore, according to an official letter from Glavgosexpertiza of Russia, a second government review is not required," the company said in response to environmentalists' claims.
The Krasnoyarsk Territory Economics and Development Ministry, as well as the regional prosecutor's office hold similar positions, as confirmed by official letters, RusHydro said.
Boguchany HPP, with capacity of 3,000 MW, is being built as part of the Boguchany Energy & Metallurgical Association (BEMO) project that also calls for the construction of an aluminum smelter with annual capacity of 588,000 tonnes. The project is being implemented by RusHydro and Rusal in an equal partnership.
