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Siemens in Sosnovy Bor
Why did your ministry choose the German concern Siemens as a partner for the nuclear power plant designed in the town of Sosnovy Bor close to St.Petersburg? Our Minatom contacts many distinguished European and American companies working in the field of nuclear power engineering. Before giving priority to Siemens we thoroughly considered all pros and contras. Siemens is a worldwide concern that has made serious achievements in building and designing nuclear power giants in Germany as well as in other countries on almost all continents. We have long since established productive business relations with it. There are directions where we have been somewhat left behind, but in some areas we are way ahead. For instance, our automatic systems for controlling technical processes on nuclear power plants are no longer meeting modern requirements. We have purchased the license from the concern and quickly established the production of necessary devices on our defense plants. On the other hand, the Siemens experts have shown a sincere interest in one of our newest paragenerator models which allows an increase in the energy outcome. The financial aspect of the issue has also played a major role in choosing the partner. We have considered several choices and, to our mutual pleasure, found one that promised profits for both sides. And how is the design work going on? Were there any obstacles for joint activity? No, we did not face any difficulties. There was a complete understanding between our native and German designers to begin with. Bavarian engineers and designers started to cooperate with us actively about 2.5 years ago. The years of 1995 and 1996 were particularly productive, when the problems of the automatic control of the technical processes were being studied along with the building part. The Siemens engineers have rendered us assistance, providing a computing base for the design work, which, naturally affected its results positively. The German experience also helped us to design electrical equipment and industrial premises. In order to eliminate any doubts concerning the project quality, we conducted an independent expertise by agreement with the Siemens authorities, inviting, for instance, the experts of the world-famous distinguished non-government independent organization “Gesellschaft fur Anlagen und Reaktorsicherheit” which has a number of branches in various German industrial centers. Having studied the submitted materials thoroughly, these highly qualified experts came to the conclusion that not only the reactor block but also all other components of the project were meeting the modern scientific requirements, that the project was economically feasible and promised considerable profits for the potential investors. After they had learned this conclusion, the representatives of Siemens together with environment protection minister of Bavaria Mr. Goppel came to Sosnovy Bor last August to see the site where the nuclear giant was to be erected. Recently, our leading designers and I have received an invitation to the meeting dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Siemens and to discuss a number of technical issues connected with the construction in Sosnovy Bor. Will the Siemens representatives directly participate in the building process? We are going to manage both the building and the assembling using our own resources but we will be consulting German experts. Also, Siemens will supply some equipment for Sosnovy Bor. However, I would like to emphasize that the collaboration with Siemens is not limited to Sosnovy Bor only. We are intensively developing various schemes of its participation in the completion of the third block of the Kalinin power plant with a capacity of one million kilowatts, and in the construction of other objects. The investment problem has become an issue of special concern for us. The possibilities of Russia are very limited in this area and considerable investments from abroad are therefore required. Now we are carrying out intensive negotiations with a number of large European companies. For instance, experts of the most respectable French company “Electricite de France” have examined the nuclear power plant which is being built near Rostov. Having carried out a detailed analysis, they have come to the conclusion that the cost of one unit of power here will be two times lower than in European countries. We are also conducting negotiations connected with other perspective objects. Several projects include the Far-Eastern coast. A considerable share of the nuclear power plant equipment for the new projects will be manufactured in St.Petersburg and in the Leningrad region. The infrastructure of Russian nuclear power engineering that has been created, allows hope to attract serious investments for the realization of our plans. I hope that the St.-Peterburg economic forum will play a prominent role in that.
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