According to chief engineer Anatoly Tutunnik at Kola Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP), TACIS money cover only a quarter of the expenses for the liquid radioactive waste treatment facility. While TACIS sponsors only the facility itself, expenses for construction of the building to house the facility, mantling the equipment and training of the staff must be covered by the power plant.

According to Tutunnik the storage facilities at KNPP will be 100 percent filled two years from now. Currently the plant has more than 7500 cubic meters of liquid radioactive waste stored on site, while the maximum storage capacity equals 8526 cubic meters. Apparently the KNPP will not be able to raise the necessary funds to mantle the treatment plant. Outstanding debts of energy consumers in the Murmansk Region by the end of last year amounted to 40 million US dollars.

The two oldest VVER-440 reactor at Kola Power Plant, built in 1973 and 1974, are to be decommissioned by the year 2003 and 2004. Currently the construction of the tree new generation VVER-640 reactors is frozen due to the lack of funding.