MOSCOW, August 2 (RIA Novosti) - The Federal Agency for Nuclear Power is going to take out loans for the construction of three new units at various nuclear power plants, a senior official in the agency said.

A second unit for the Volgodonsk nuclear power plant (the Rostov region, southern Russia) will be a priority.

"We have drafted a detailed business plan for constructing the second unit of the Volgodonsk nuclear power plant," the official said. "The project has secured support from a series of banks."

"We have long been seeking loans, and we are capable of building several units at a time. However, the second unit of the Volgodonsk nuclear power plant [is a priority]," said the source.

He also said the agency would take out loans for building the fifth unit of the Balakovskaya nuclear power plant (Saratov region, on the Volga, 600 miles from Moscow) and the fourth unit of the Kalininskaya nuclear power plant (Tver region, 99 miles northwest of Moscow).

The Volgodonsk nuclear power plant is currently using one unit. The second unit is to be commissioned in 2008.

In all, Russia has about 77 units in operation at ten nuclear power plants.

In 2004, the plants generated 15.6% of the total electric power in the country.