MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - The first repaired generator at Russia's largest hydropower plant, hit by a fatal accident one month ago, will be operational by the beginning of April 2010, a source familiar with the repair plans said.
Full reconstruction of the Sayano-Shushenskaya plant in Siberia's Khakasia Republic is expected to take five years. The plant was wrecked by a water surge on August 17, which claimed 75 lives.
"In line with the plan for the restoration of the station, the launch of the first repaired hydroelectric unit — number six — will take place in the first quarter of 2010, by April. The second to be launched will be unit number five, in the second quarter of 2010," the source told RIA Novosti.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the station needs to be completely rebuilt. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said the reconstruction program in 2010 would be financed from only extra-budgetary sources.
Russia's industrial safety watchdog said on Monday that the power station accident was caused by failures in safety and working procedures.
State-controlled RusHydro, which owns the station, has said it will replace all damaged generating units by 2014.
Russia's crumbling infrastructure, underfunded since the 1990s, has often been the cause of such deadly industrial accidents.
