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Atomstroiexport to Pay for Chinese Atom in Addition
Atomstroiexport (ASE) has claims to Russia’s manufacturers of equipment by results of the launch of the first unit of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) that is currently constructed in China, said Atomstroiexport President Sergey Shmatko. ASE doesn’t conceal it will face the claims of Chinese party under the contract, which was to be completed far back in 2005.
“We are not willing to assume all responsibility for the state of Russia’s industry in late 1990’s. The commercial results of the project for constructing two units of Tianwan NPP will be made out by May 1, 2007,” Shmatko said.
Atomstroiexport has been constructing two NPP units near Lianyungang, China’s third port in cargo turnover, since 1999. The problems with equipment adjustment emerged long ago, shelving the launch of the units.
Indeed, the first unit of the nuclear plant was to be put into operation in April 2004 and the second unit was to follow in roughly a year. But the first unit was set to the pilot motion only in May 2006. It reached the 75-percent capacity not long ago and today’s target is to attain 100 percent (1000MW) in the second half of December. As to the second unit, its commercial operation has been slated for the spring of 2007.
The amount of China’s claims will be considered no sooner than the contract is completed in part and in whole. In the next move, Atomstroiexport will discuss the amount with Russia’s manufacturers. “In this project, we have experienced all risks caused by the long pause in manufacturing NPP equipment in Russia. The project had endured around 30,000 changes already at the stage of construction,” Shmatko said, prompting to suppose that the discussion of claims with Russia’s firms will be very heated.
Regardless, China will hardly claim a lot from Atomstroiexport, and the claims of the latter to Russia’s producers won’t be big either. The contract budget is very moderate and it has been fixed in rubles. Of $2.5 billion allocated by Russia to China under the intergovernmental loan, Russia has taken no more than $1.5 billion. So, each unit cost roughly $750 million, i.e. materially below the prices worldwide. But Atomstroiexport will press for the world prices for constructing next units of Tianwan NPP. The target is ˆ1900 to ˆ2300 per each KW of capacity vs. today’s $750.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 26, 2006
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