Representatives of South Tangerang Administration Visited Russian Nuclear Power Plant and Its Neighbourhood

Singapore, Singapore, August 28, 2016 --(PR.com)-- Representatives of South Tangerang city administration visited Novovoronezh. In this Russian city there is located a nuclear power plant, where has been recently commissioned a power unit of the new generation.

The visit was organized by Rusatom International Network (a subsidiary of ROSATOM Corporation) jointly with the National Atomic Energy Agency of Indonesia (BATAN), its aim was the exchange of experience between local authorities of territories, where nuclear industry facilities are located.

The Indonesian delegation included Wahyudi Leksono, Head of Setu district of South Tangerang city. In this district there is located the BATAN research center, where the largest Indonesian research 30 MW reactor operates and where there is also planned the construction of a new experimental reactor. The tender for the preliminary design of this reactor was won by ROSATOM Corporation as a part of the Russian-Indonesian consortium in 2015.

"The population of our district Setu is two times bigger than the population of Novovoronezh. But the area is two times smaller. High population density requires high-quality infrastructure, and the proximity of operating reactor requires a qualified work with the public acceptance of nuclear technologies. Our objective is to study the experience of Novovoronezh administration in these fields and we are quite impressed by the success of our Russian colleagues," Wahyudi Leksono said.

He also stressed that the high living standard in the areas where a nuclear plant is located is an important argument in favour of nuclear energy. Wahyudi Leksono cited the example of many Indonesian villages, where in addition to the lack electricity, there are no roads, no educational institutions, no sports facilities, as well as no conditions for the development of entrepreneurship.

"The social responsibility of the Novovoronezh NPP a striking example in this respect," stressed the district head.

According to Vladimir Leshchenko, Deputy Head of the Novovoronezh city administration, before the introduction of nuclear power back to 1960s, Novovoronezh area was also represented by a number of poor villages.

"Today it is a rapidly developing town, especially thanks to the support of the key enterprise – the nuclear power plant. Over the past few years ROSATOM has invested more than a billion roubles (more than 200 billion IDR) in the city development. New schools and sports facilities have been built. Along with the construction of new power units of the plant, new housing is being built, new businesses and new jobs are being created, and the welfare of residents is increasing steadily," he said.

Novovoronezh NPP provides with energy 21 large industrial enterprises and 2.3 million inhabitants, being one of the three largest taxpayers in the Voronezh region of Russia.

During the visit to the station the delegates got acquainted with the process of the commissioning of the most powerful power unit of the plant – unit No. 6 with VVER-1200 reactor, which has no analogues in the world.

According to Rahmat Salam Arifin Hassan, Head of the regional Agency for Environmental Protection of South Tangerang, the visit to the nuclear power station completely dispelled his doubts about its environmental sustainability.

"I didn't expect to see such a compact power plant with the capacity of 1200 MW surrounded by green forest areas with clean air," Indonesian ecologist noted.

According to him, the impact of NPP on the environment is minimal which is contrary to majority opinion.

"I was impressed not only by the absence of radioactive or other emissions and careful management of natural resources, but also by a well-designed system of water, soil and air monitoring," Rahmat Salam Arifin Hassan stressed.

Background radiation at Novovoronezh NPP does not exceed the indicators of a natural background. For the whole NPP lifetime emissions of radionuclides into the atmosphere and into water have been several times less than the established standards. A special laboratory of the Department of Environmental Protection of the plant provides chemical control of the cooling water coming into the river Don, controlling also groundwater and rainwater.

In a 15-kilometer zone around the Novovoronezh NPP all the sources of drinking and household water used by the splant are under control. Radiation safety monitoring within a 50-kilometer area around the station is ensured by 33 dosimetry posts which monitor the radioactivity of rain, soil, vegetation and agricultural products.

References:
In March 2016 as part of physical start-up of the unit No. 6 of Novovoronezh NPP (Novovoronezh-6), the first of the generation 3+ reactors, the loading of fuel into the core of VVER-1200 reactor started. On 20 May 2016 the reactor reached minimum controllable power level. The reactor power start-up took place on August 5.

The reactors of 3+ generation are currently being built in the USA, France and other countries. However, Novovoronezh-6 became the world's first commissioned nuclear unit of the latest generation.

The reactors of the generation 3+ have better technical and economic indicators that ensure absolute operational safety and fully comply with all post-Fukushima requirements. The peculiarity of such units is the wide use of passive safety systems which are able to function even in the case of a total loss of power supply without human intervention. Thus, at Novovoronezh-6 NPP there were applied such unique systems as passive heat removal systems and core catcher.
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