”By August 1 the modernisation of the first unit should be completed which has been going on in stages since 1989 and the State Nuclear Regulatory should issue the licence” said the LNPP representative. According to him the licence should be valid for 3-5 years with the possibility for prolongation. He also added that the first unit satisfies all modern requirements of the radiation safety and the state of its equipment allows extending its lifetime for 15 years.

The price of the modernisation is not announced, but the experts believe it is 25% of the new unit, i.e. $200m. The money was allocated by the local and state budget as well as Rosenergoatom concern. The 30-years lifetime of the first unit was expired back in December 2003.

According to “Echo-St Petersburg”, 5 incidents at the Leningrad, Balakovo and Kola NPPs were registered in May when automatic safety shutdown system was triggered.