Lawmakers urge single hydropower research complex in Russia

A parliamentary commission which probed the August disaster at Russia's largest hydroelectric power station said in a report that a single scientific hydropower research center should be established in the country.

The commission said in a report that Russia should "concentrate engineering and research potential in the hydroelectric industry," which currently "fails to keep up with global leaders."

The report, which is to be heard in the Russian parliament later on Friday, says Russia's largest hydropower company RusHydro could be instructed to buy at least three hydropower research institutes in Moscow and Siberia's Krasnoyarsk for that purpose.

The three research centers had earlier been a part of a single research complex.

The August 17 disaster at the Sayano-Shushenskaya plant on Siberia's Yenisei River killed 75 people and destroyed a turbine hall. The accident also destroyed three hydropower units and damaged the other seven.

The commission has earlier said a number of aspects, including design, operation and poor maintenance work, had caused the disaster. The probe also found that the accident was prompted by flaws in the dam's design, which placed personnel facilities at levels subject to flooding.

MOSCOW, December 25 (RIA Novosti)