This is an essential stage of start-up operations, which should demonstrate quality of construction and assembling of the reactor hall containment, assess the state of concrete, steel and inner environs. The start-up management group headed by Mr. Aksenov called the tests’ results “quite satisfactory”.

Rosenergoatom’s first deputy general director Sergei Ivanov told Interfax earlier that the company would allocate 4.9 billion rubles ($170m) in 2004 to finish the construction of the third power generating unit of the Kalinin nuclear power plant. It was initially planned to put the power generating unit into operation in December 2003. “The Kalinin nuclear power plant’s new power generating unit will be put into operation in the summer of 2004. It is expected to generate some two billion kilowatt hours of electricity this year.” A power generating unit with a VVER-1000 reactor has an annual capacity of 7.5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity.

In 2003 Kalinin nuclear plant produced 15 billion 171 million kWh of electricity to exceed the FEC of Russia’s planned figure by 240 million kWh and 2002 output by 200 million kWh. Load factor approached 86.6% with the planned 85.22%. Presently Kalinin nuclear power plant operates two units with VVER-1000 reactors with total load of 2070 MW, Nuclear.ru reported.