Public discussions will be held during February and March on the siting of units 3&4 of Russia’s Kursk-II NPP. These will present preliminary materials on the environmental impact assessment of both units. Public discussions will be held in the form of a survey.
“We are holding public discussions so that the population receives full information about the work of the future facility, its limited impact on the environment,” said Kursk NPP Director Alexander Uvakin. “It is also an opportunity to get the opinion of the public and take it into account during the environmental impact assessment. Any interested participant will be able to express their preferences and get clarification on all issues.”
Andrey Osharin, First Deputy Director for the Construction of New Units at Kursk NPP said the government has set the task of bringing the share of nuclear power plants in Russia’s total energy balance to 25% by 2045. “To fulfil this, a large-scale construction programme has been launched, which includes the construction of two more units at the Kursk-II NPP.”
Materials for public discussions will be available on the official website of the Kurchatov City Municipality, the official website of the Kurchatov District Municipal District and on the website of the nuclear utility Rosenergoatom. They will also be available at various public offices in Kurchatov. The body responsible for organising public hearings is the administration of the city of Kurchatov.
Kursk II is intended as a replacement station for the currently operating Kursk NPP, which comprises four RBMK reactors. Units 1&2, currently under construction, are being built according to the VVER-TOI project (standard optimised informatised pressurised water power reactor), which is a development of the VVER-1200 reactor design.
Image: Artist's impression of proposed siting of Kursk-II units 3 & 4 (courtesy of Kursk NPP)
