27.04.2009
The solemn action on the occasion of opening the site demonstrated exclusive importance of the project of Belene NPP construction for the Republic of Bulgaria. The Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Sergey Stanishev, the Minister of Economy and Energy of Bulgaria, Peter Dimitrov, the Chief Executive Director of the National Electric Company of Bulgaria, Lyubomir Velkov, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Bulgaria, Jury Isakov, arrived at the site. The action was also attended by the heads of the Russian enterprises-partners of Atomstroyexport JSC – Kurchatov Institute, Moscow Institute "Atomenergoproject", OKB “Gidropress”, representatives of the foreign partner of Atomstroyexport JSC – CARSIB consortium (AREVA-Siemens), representatives of some Bulgarian organizations involved in the project.Leonid Reznikov, speaking at the opening ceremony, said: “Today the start is given to one of the hi-tech and unique projects, which will help to lift economy of Bulgaria to a qualitatively new level and to provide its further prosperity. Belene NPP is called to become a guarantor of power safety of Bulgaria. All present-day NPP Russian designs of new generation are characterized by the raised safety level and highly improved technical parameters. Belene NPP will be reliable, will not have impact on ecology of the region and will serve to the country for a long time”. Construction of Belene NPP is the largest project of the Russian-Bulgarian cooperation. It provides construction of two power units with VVER-1000 reactors of the Russian design. The unique combination of the safety active and passive systems will be applied at Belene NPP, thus providing a higher level of safety in comparison with projects already realized in the world. Information. In 2005 the tender for construction of Belene NPP was invited. It was won by the Russian company Atomstroyexport. On January 18th, 2008 signing of the Contract Agreement for Belene NPP construction took place in presence of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the President of Bulgaria, George Pyrvanov, between Atomstroyexport JSC and the National Electric Company. The cost of the works under the contract makes nearby 4 billion Euros. Belene NPP is the Russian-European project in which Atomstroyexport participates together with the German consortium CARSIB (AREVA-Siemens). In 2007 the Russian design “AES-92" applied for Belene NPP was recognized complying all technical EUR requirements to the light water reactors of new generation. Certification of the design once more demonstrated a high level of reliability and safety of the future Belene NPP.
