This file is no longer being updated.  For information on developments in the nuclear power industry, please see the Nuclear Power Developments section.

LOCATION: Kostroma

TYPE: VVER-1000

[Andrei Ivanov, "RUSSIA: Peoples' Power Versus Nuclear Power," INTERPRESS, via Internet: http://www.igc.org/igc/peacenet/hl/96121022819/hl7.html]

UNITS: Four (proposed)

["World Nuclear Industry Handbook 1996," NUCLEAR ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL, pp. 29-30.]{Entered 10/17/96 LBN}

STATUS:

In response to the December 1996 referendum, Rosenergoatom is preparing a draft decree on canceling the Kostroma NPP project for review by Minatom's Design, Investment, and Construction Department.

[Atompressa, no. 35 (271), September 1997,  p. 1.] {Entered 9/30/98 LBB}

COMMENTS:

According to V. Neskoromnyy, construction began in 1988 in the village of Chistye Bory. On 6/15/90, the Kostroma Council recalled the decision to build a NPP. However, on 12/28/92, the Russian government included the Kostroma NPP in the list of NPPs under construction.

Sources:

[1] Vyacheslav Guskov, ITAR-TASS, 8/2/94; in "Kostroma Duma Decides To Resume Work On Nuclear Power Plant Despite Opposition," JPRS-TEN-94-020, 8/18/94, p. 35.

[2] Vadim Kantor, "Kostroma Residents Are Fighting Against The Future Nuclear Power Plant," SEGODNYA, 1/30/96, p. 12.

[3] Vladimir Neskoromnyy, SEGODNYA, 4/28/94, p. 9; in "Kostromskaya Nuclear Power Plant Construction Threat To Volga Region," JPRS-TND-94-014, 5/23/94, pp. 30-31.

[4] Sergey Leskov, "Reactor For Nuclear Submarine Will Be Utilized In Kostroma," IZVESTIYA, 9/23/94, p. 2.

 

KOSTROMA DEVELOPMENTS (For more recent developments, see the Nuclear Power Developments file):

 

1/28/99: OBLAST COURT RULES REFERENDUM INVALID

After the December 1996 referendum in which 87 percent of respondents voted against the completion of the Kostroma NPP, a group of NPP workers from the town of Chistiye Bory who had lost their jobs took the case to court.[1]  The Kostroma Oblast Court ruled that the referendum and its results are invalid.[2]

Sources:

[1] "Sud v Kostrome dezavuiroval itogi referenduma po AES," Interfax, 29 January 1999.

[2] "Ekonomika: Korotko,"  Rossiyskaya gazeta, 28 January 1999,  p.2. {Entered 4/26/99 LBB}

 

9/97: MINATOM DEFIES REFERENDUM RESULTS

Despite the results of the 1996 referendum, Minatom is preparing to resume construction of the Kostroma NPP. In September 1997, based on the decision of then-Minister of Atomic Energy Viktor Mikhailov, Rosenergoatom Director Yevgeniy Ignatenko issued a directive to create a commission to draft a proposal for the  "Complex Program on Site Utilization and Resumption of Construction of the Kostroma NPP" by 17 October 1997. It provides for the continuation of construction, cancellation of the 1996 referendum results, implementation of a pro-NPP campaign, and carrying out a new referendum within the 30km zone around the NPP. The construction cost is estimated at $7.2 billion. The program was developed and signed by Rosenergoatom Director of Public Relations  A. Zemskov and Kostroma NPP Director A. Talakan. The program proposal requires a total of seven signatures.

[Tamara Dobretsova, "Byt Li Kostromskoy AES," Yadernaya Bezopasnost, April/May 1998, p. 12.] {Entered 7/14/99 VT}

 

 12/9/96: KOSTROMA REFERENDUM RESULTS

Eighty-seven percent of voters voted against the completion of the Kostroma NPP in a referendum held 12/8/96. The referendum is legally binding, and plant construction can only be resumed if another referendum shows the majority support the project.[1] An environmentalist organization called "In the Name of Life" led the campaign for the referendum, stating that the plant site is located on a geological fault, in an area where high groundwater levels cause sinkholes and landslides.[2] Yet another complaint concerns the plant's location relative to the city: it is only 85 km from the city, rather than the 100 km required of new NPPs, and a major railway hub is within seven miles of the site.[3] Minatom stated that there was no need to hold the referendum, as plans for completing the plant were scrapped after the Chornobyl catastrophe.[4]

Sources:

[1] "Russian Voters Broadly Reject Plan to Build Nuclear Plant," WALL STREET JOURNAL INTERACTIVE EDITION, 12/9/96, http://interactive6.wsj.com/.../sb85014137165330500.html.

[2] Andrei Ivanov, "RUSSIA: Peoples' Power Versus Nuclear Power," INTERPRESS, http://www.igc.org/igc/peacenet/hl/96121022819/hl7.html.

[3] Ivan Rebrov, "Gubernskiye referendum global'nogo znacheniya," ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA, 11/29/96, p. 5.

[4] Aleksandr Batygin, "Vernym Kurskom idete, tovarishchi!" DOM I OTECHESTVO, special section of ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA, 11/30/96, p. 1.{Entered 12/9/96 LBN; updated 12/17/96 LBN}

 

1/30/96: KOSTROMA RESIDENTS OPPOSED TO NPP CONSTRUCTION

The decision to resume construction of the Kostroma NPP, even though a mandatory environmental study has not been conducted, has met with opposition from Kostroma residents. According to Aleksey Yablokov, there are two ways construction of the power plant may be stopped: if the results of a governmental environmental study are unfavorable, or the Kostroma region conducts a referendum. Yablokov noted that locals may demand an independent environmental study in addition to the government one.

[Vadim Kantor, "Kostroma Residents Are Fighting Against The Future Nuclear Power Plant," SEGODNYA, 1/30/96, p. 12]

 

Last updated 20 August 1999
For more recent developments, see the Nuclear Power Developments file.

Comments or questions? Contact Cristina Chuen at MIIS CNS: Cristina.Chuen@miis.edu

This material is produced independently for NTI by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2002 by MIIS.

HOME  |  CONTACT US  |  SITE MAP