Putin launches turbine at Siberian hydropower plant
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday restarted a turbine at a Siberian hydropower plant that was devastated by a disaster last August, Russian news agencies reported.
The catastrophe that killed 75 people at Russia's largest hydropower station, the Sayano-Shushenskaya dam, occurred when a massive surge of water flooded the turbine room.
According to a report released by the state industrial safety watchdog Rostekhnadzor in October, the disaster was caused by technical shortcomings and human errors.
Power generation at the plant was suspended after the deadly accident as three hydropower units were completely destroyed and the remaining seven damaged.
The plant's owner, RusHydro, plans to switch on the second turbine next month and another two by the end of this year. The other six units that were seriously damaged are to be replaced with the new ones.
Putin said the repairs of the hydroelectric plant were to be completed by 2014 and 13.5 billion rubles (US$450 million) would be spent restoring the power plant this year.
"We're planning to allocate 10 billion rubles (US$333 million) for the repairs of the station and 3.5 billion rubles (117 million dollars) for the construction of a spillway," he was quoted by Itar-Tass as saying.
