 The license for phase 1 reactors five-year operation extensions, granted by the Russian Federation's civilian nuclear regulator Gosatomnadzor (FSETAN’s predecessor), were issued without conducting an obligatory state environmental impact study.Conducting such federal level studies is mandated by the law "On Environmental Impact Studies" in Article 11.The first extension for the old reactors was issued in summer 2003, almost precisely after former Deputy Minister of Atomic Energy Andrei Malyshev was installed as Gosatomnadzor’s chief.