A report on the disaster at the 6.4GW Siberian plant, where three workers remain missing following the accident on 17 August, is expected from the country’s industrial safety agency Rostekhnadzor before then end of September. The agency checked the plant last year and no significant problems were highlighted.
The rebuild of the plant is estimated to take up to three years and the Ministry of Energy has estimated that the work could cost Ruble 40B (US$1.25B) or more. No details were available on the talks with EBRD, which could see a separate loan or a renewal of the existing debt agreement with greater borrowing permitted.
On 17 August, three of the plants 10 units were destroyed by the consequences of a hydraulic shock focused on one unit, No 2 it is understood. Six other units suffered varying degrees of damage, some from the collapsing powerhouse structure.
No official reason has been given on the cause of the disaster.
Only one unit, No 6, was not being used and it remains intact. The unit had just finished an eight-month refurbishment programme.
The plant on the Yenisei river is the biggest owned by RusHydro and the 640MW units were commissioned over 1978-85. The powerhouse is at the foot of a 242m high concrete arch gravity dam.
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