Nuclear plants in Russia produced 36.6TWh of electricity in the first quarter of this year, about 3.9% above the target set by the Russian Federal Energy Commission (FEC). However, this was 4.6% down on the same period in 2000 when 38.4TWh was produced.
The reduction was largely due to output restrictions enforced by monopoly power provider, United Energy Systems (UES). UES has been ordered by the government to draft a programme of repayment of debt to enterprises of the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry. Earlier, the company refused to repay R1.7 billion ($70 million) in compensation to Minatom for 2000.
The FEC said that reducing the load at nuclear plants in January and February by UES’s central dispatch department was illegal. Rosenergoatom said the dispatch breached an FEC resolution issued in 1998 as it restricted the output of nuclear plants.
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