“It’s a scary thought that some of the most dangerous reactors in the world can be well over 50 years old before they are taken out of service,” says Nuclear Physicist Nils Bøhmer with the Bellona Foundation to BarentsObserver. He points to the fact that Kola nuclear power plant is located in a region with great potential for renewable energy in the form of wind power.
Kola nuclear power plant has again become a “hot-potato” in Norway after BarentsObserver yesterday published the news about the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s Decree to build new reactors that will be ready by 2025 and 2030. If the current two oldest reactors are to operate until the new ones are ready, they will be over 50 years old before being closed down. That is a paradox for Norway that over the last two decades have provided hundreds of millions to improve safety at Kola nuclear power plant, although always stated that the technical support is of intermediate character until the reactors are closed down.
Rosatom, however, says the technical support has made the reactors so much safer that they can continue to produce energy longer than originally designed for. Rosatom is Russia’s state-own company operating the country’s nuclear power plant.
“These are worrisome signals. Norwegian view is that the two oldest reactors do not have a sufficient security level. Therefore they should not get prolonged life-time, we would like to see them closed down,” says State Secretary Bård Glad Pedersen in the Foreign Ministry in Oslo to NRK.
In Northern Norway, the Kola nuclear power plant has worried the locals for decades. Head of Finnmark County Council, Runar Sjåstad, says to BarentsObserver that he is in principally concerned about nuclear power. Sjåstad is today in Murmansk on the occasion of the 25-years anniversary of the cooperation between Finnmark County and Murmansk Oblast.
“I understand the Russian energy demand, and I think Norway should approach this question by offering competence in energy efficiency and renewable energy,” says Runar Sjåstad.
The Decree about priorities in Russia’s energy sector till the year 2030 from Dmitri Medvedev reads that the two new reactors, to be constructed at a brand new nuclear power plant to be named Kola NPP-2, will replace existing capacity. The two oldest reactors at today’s Kola nuclear power plant have been in operation since 1973 and 1975.
