In late 2014, the Russian Parliament passed a bill restricting the storage of personal data of Russian nationals outside of the country. The bill comes into force on September 1, 2015. Russia is committed to provide foreign companies with all the facilities necessary to localize data processing. In particular, Rosatom offers Facebook and Google to locate their data servers on the site near the Kalinin NPP where it constructs a data center.

Sergei Novikov, Director of Rosatom’s Communication Department, explains that the data center is located near the nuclear power plant because it consumes much electric power. “Proximity to the power source, in this case a nuclear station, reduces costs and guarantees a reliable supply of power. Expenses are lower as the power source is close to the data center. I do not know when they will build their servers. We have electric power and can connect them right now or in a month – it does not matter,” he said.

The data center project is in its development stage, said Andrei Timonov, Head of Information and Public Relations Department of Rosenergoatom.

“We have selected a general contractor and obtained all the licenses and permits required. The data center will be launched in mid-2016. A part of its capacity will be used by Rosenergoatom to process its own big data due to the specific nature of its activities. This will take 5–10% of the total data center capacity. The rest will be offered on the open market,” said Timonov.