Novovoronezh (Voronezh Region), 2 May: The fourth power unit of the Novovoronezhskaya nuclear power plant has been fully taken out of operation and put on reserve, the unit's head Anatoliy Fedorov has said.

He said that the coordination centre of the Unified Energy System of Russia had initiated such measures and that this was due to fall in demand for electricity during the [May] holiday period. The suspension of the power unit will be used to conduct maintenance work. It will resume its operations on the night of 4 to 5 May, Fedorov said.

The four power unit VVER-440 [water-cooled power reactor] was commissioned in December 1972. Following the expiry of a 30-year scheduled term of operation in 2002, it was decided to extend its operations for a further 15 years.

Two power units with a combined capacity of 1.42m kW are currently in operation at the plant. The background radiation level at the plant and around it is normal.