Agreement signed between Tomsk Region and Rosatom

Tomsk Region and Rosatom signed an agreement on the creation of conditions for the development of entrepreneurship and creation of new jobs in Seversk during the Rosatom's head Sergey Kiriyenko's visit to Tomsk.

The agreement was signed by Viktor Kress, Tomsk Region Governor, and Sergey Kiriyenko, General Director of Rosatom. Also, Tomsk Region and Rosatom signed a memorandum of cooperation in key areas of cooperation to develop the nuclear power sector of Tomsk Region.

In the nearest future Rosatom will provide additional investment in the expansion of the capacities of OAO Siberian Chemical Combine in Seversk, development of new areas of business and transfer of a portion of manufacturing assets from other closed cities to Seversk. That will increase the tax revenues of the Region. Under the agreement, the tax proceeds from the Siberian Chemical Combine will be invested in the development of Seversk through entrepreneurship support programs.

"It is very important that these taxes are spent on the development of Seversk. But the existing tax system lets through to the municipal budget only a small portion of these taxes. The major portion goes to the regional budget. It is important for us that the regional budget allocates funds then specifically for the purposes of the development of the city. The Region undertakes to increase its tax proceeds through target programs dedicated to the development of Seversk," Sergey Kiriyenko says.

After the visit of the head of Rosatom to Tomsk in September 2011 one of the first decisions taken was creation of an uranium conversion facility on the site of the Siberian Chemical Combine. Within the next few years Rosatom plans to invest around 45bn rubles in this project and in the modernization of the core assets of the combine. The funds – 7.5bn rubles – for the construction of the conversion facility have already been allocated. The feasibility study and preliminary front-end engineering and design work has started.

The agenda of Sergey Kiriyenko's visit to Tomsk also included a meeting on the Breakthrough Project to discuss the potential creation of an experimental MOX fuel facility for the reactors of the fourth generation, the so-called fast-neutron reactors which are supposed to replace currently used pressure reactors and pressurized water reactors. The plan is to use the premises of the Siberian Chemical Combine. Evgeny Adamov, former nuclear power minister and manager of the BREST-300 project, and Sergey Tochilin, Deputy Governor of Tomsk Region for particularly important projects, took part in the meeting. According to Sergey Kiriyenko, the decision to set up the experimental MOX fuel plant in the site of the combine was taken in principle, and the funds for the survey and design work are available.

The head of Rosatom also visited the pilot facility for the decommissioning of uranium-graphite reactors at the former reactor plant of the combine. Sergey Kiriyenko pointed out that the decommissioning center has a promising future as over time life of some reactors currently running in Russia will expire and they will have to be decommissioned. Also, there are prospects to enter the markets of the countries which are scaling back their nuclear power programs.

Sergey Kiriyenko also had a visit to the Seversk School of Physics and Mathematics which runs under the Rosatom – School project, and met with the representatives of Seversk enterprises and public organizations.

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• February
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