Rosatom in talks with regions on possible construction of onshore small nuclear power plant
MOSCOW. Feb 24 (Interfax) - Rosatom Group is discussing the possibility of building a small-capacity nuclear power plant (NPP) with several Russian regions, Rusatom Overseas CEO Yevgeny Pakermanov said in an interview with corporate magazine Strana Rosatom.
"There are a number of regions that are also showing interest in an onshore small-capacity NPP, but at the stage of preliminary discussions at this point. There are several [regions], five for sure. This is sufficient for the current stage," Pakermanov said.
It was reported earlier that Rosatom plans to launch a pilot small-capacity NPP in Yakutia in 2027. Last December, the state corporation and the government of Yakutia signed an agreement setting out the principles of electricity pricing for the project to build the NPP based on a RITM-200 reactor in the village of Ust-Kuiga in Ust-Yansky district.
The project to build the plant is being developed under a letter of intent that Yakutia and Rosatom signed in September 2019. The field stage of surveys was completed in 2020.
The plant is expected to reduce the cost of electricity in Ust-Yansky district by almost half. In future, the plant could be used to produce environmentally-friendly hydrogen for transportation and industry.