In Yakutia (Russian Republic of Sakha), the possibility of launching an alternative route for the Bulun winter truck highway is being considered. This will improve logistics for the construction of a low-capacity NPP (ASMM – Atomnoi Stantsii Maloi Moshnosti) in the northern part of the republic, according to Yakutia’s Deputy Minister of Transport & Road Management Semyon Korkin.

“We are considering the possibility of using an alternative route for the Bulun winter truck highway on the section between the village of Naiba and the village of Khayyr. This will make it possible to shorten and make safer the section between the village of Naiba and the village of Ust-Kuiga [where the ASMM is being built]. After the construction of the deep-water port in the village of Naiba, logistics for ASMM will significantly improve,” Korkin said.

At a meeting of the Board of the Yakutia Ministry of Housing, Communal Services & Energy, Svyatoslav Pikh, Head of the Department for Tariffs, Land Relations & Interaction with Stakeholders of Rusatom Overseas, said that 8,000 tonnes of cargo were delivered to Ust-Kuigu last winter season. In future, it is planned to increase the volume of deliveries.

Earlier, the head of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolaev, reported that the launch of ASMM in Ust-Kuiga had been postponed from 2028 to 2030. The reason was the decision to build a NPP with two 110 MWe reactors instead of one, as previously planned. In mid-January, passage through the Naiba section of the Bulun highway was opened. The Yakutia Department of Roads said traffic is allowed for vehicles weighing up to 30 tonnes, and appropriate road signs have been installed on the site. The Road Administration of Yakutia strongly recommended observing the permissible load capacity and strictly following the instructions of road signs.