Putin to match payouts to plant disaster families

RUSSIAN Prime Minister Vladimir Putin yesterday visited the site of the Siberia power plant accident that killed 47 workers and promised compensation for their families and those of the 28 others still missing.

Putin urged RusHydro, owner of the massive Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric plant, to compensate the families of the dead and missing equally. RusHydro has already pledged to pay one million rubles ($31,300) to the families of the dead.

Putin acknowledged there was little hope anyone could still be alive after four days in near-freezing waters.

He promised to match the company’s payouts with government money to help families affected.

“I’ve just talked to the rescue workers. They have seen it all but say that nerves fail them [here],” Putin said.

On Monday a powerful explosion blew out walls and caused the turbine room at Russia’s largest power plant to flood.

More than 1,000 rescue workers were searching the huge plant that straddles the Yenisei River. Dmitry Kudryavtsev, a spokesman for the emergency situations ministry, said 47 workers were confirmed dead after rescuers found bodies in thedestroyed engine room and more in another flooded room that was drained yesterday.

The cause of the accident is unclear but officials cited a faulty turbine and a rise of pressure in the pipes as possible triggers.

Authorities have ruled out terrorism as a cause. However, a Chechen rebel group claimed yesterday that it had sabotaged the plant by placing an explosive in the turbine room.

The statement from the group, calling itself the Riyadus Salikhin Martyrs’ Brigade, was posted on a website sympathetic to Chechen rebels. The claim could not be independently confirmed.

Federal investigators later issued a statement reaffirming that experts had checked the plant for traces of explosives and found none. Chechen rebels have a history of claiming responsibility for serious industrial accidents in Russia.

Putin said earlier that the Sayano-Shushenskaya accident highlighted the need to invest in critical parts of Russia’s crumbling infrastructure and called for workers and companies to pay closer attention to safety.

“In our country... discipline in dealing with technology is very low,” he said.

The plant supplies about 10% of Siberia’s energy needs, including several major aluminum smelters belonging to Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum producer. It has been shut down since the accident and could be out of service for a significant time. Repairs are estimated to take from two to four years.

Siberian electricity prices on local stock markets have skyrocketed since the accident. Putin warned about “an inevitable increase” but also suggested the government would temporarily regulate wholesale electricity prices to manage the hike.