The Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East plans to create a working group for the construction of a small nuclear power plant in Yakutia. The Ministry has prepared a draft regulation on the creation of an interdepartmental working group for the construction and operation of a low-power NPP in Yakutia. The document was published on the federal portal of draft regulatory legal acts on 16 July. It will be open for public consultation until 30 July.
It specified the establishment “an interdepartmental working group under the Ministry of the Russian Federation for the development of the Far East and the Arctic on the implementation of an investment project for the construction and operation of a low-power nuclear power plant in the Far Eastern Federal District and the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation … near the village of Ust-Kuyga, Ust- Yansky district (ulus), the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)”.
The working group will prepare proposals for the formation of optimal parameters for the implementation of the project, form a roadmap for the preparation and launch of the NPP, monitor the implementation of the activities envisaged by the project, and identify risks and problem situations. The working group will be headed by Ilya Chernov, Director of the Department for Investment Development of the Far East and the Arctic at the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East.
According to the document, the group will also include Irina Danilova, Director of the Treasury at Rosatom, Vitaly Lapaev, Project Manager of the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, as well as representatives of Rusatom Overseas, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Energy, and InfraVEB.
The project for the construction of a small NPP based on the RITM-200 reactor in Yakutia is being developed within the framework of an agreement of intent signed in September 2019 between the republic and Rosatom. In 2020, the field stage of the survey was completed, and office work is underway. Rosatom reported that a low-power nuclear power plant will be built in Yakutia by 2028. It is planned to obtain a licence for the construction of the facility in 2024, after which the construction of the nuclear power plant will begin.
