On October 13, the head of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolayev, via videoconference, took part in the session “Small nuclear energy, energy supply for regions and industry” of the international forum “Russian Energy Week”. The head of the republic spoke about the project for the construction of a low-power carbon-free nuclear power plant in the Ust-Yansky region, which is being implemented jointly with Rosatom. Aisen Nikolaev recalled that 64% of the territory, where 15% of the population of the republic lives, is not covered by centralized power supply in the republic. This is a local energy zone, where 143 diesel power plants are located. Over 11 billion rubles are spent on power supply to these territories, including subsidies from the state budget amounting to about 10 billion rubles.
To reduce the cost of electricity in large settlements, a number of green projects have been implemented for the construction of combined diesel stations with solar and wind power. At the same time, according to Aisen Nikolaev, for large industrial projects in the Arctic, small nuclear power plants are the most reliable, safe, economical and profitable. Thus, a low-power nuclear power plant, which will be built in the Ust-Yansky region, will provide electricity to the settlements of the region, including the industrial development of the Kyuchus gold deposit, one of the largest in Russia. The power supply for this field will be provided from this nuclear power plant.
“The symbiosis of industrial, social, territorial development of the Arctic and a reliable, environmentally friendly nuclear power plant of low power, I consider the first step towards overcoming the energy hunger, at least in the Arctic zone of Yakutia,” stated the Head of Yakutia. He also expressed confidence that the experience of implementing the project will help advance the development of the Yakut Arctic.
