2023-10-24 12:55:42
“The Ministry of Emergency Situations has made sure that the limits and conditions of the safe operation of the stations established by the project are confirmed and justified, and the decisions laid down in the operational and emergency documentation meet the safety requirements,” the press service of the department reports. “The issuance of the license for the operation of power plant No. 2 concludes the long-term work of all those interested in the creation of a modern nuclear and radiation safety infrastructure in our country.”
Now the commission is headed by the vice prime minister Peter Parkhomczyk must evaluate the object and decide whether to approve the act of acceptance of the second block of the BelNPP.
When the same issue was resolved in June 2021, in the first block, 8 days passed from the issuance of the license to the signing of the act.
The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built near Astravets (Horaden Oblast) mainly at the expense of a Russian loan for the Russian VVER-1200 project. The general designer and general contractor is the ASE engineering company, which is the head organization of the engineering division of the Russian state corporation Rosatom.
The first energy block supplies the energy system since November 3, 2020. On October 6, 2023, another planned and preventive repair began at the facility. During its operation, the block is disconnected from the network.
The second unit has been operating in the mode of experimental and industrial operation with electricity generation since May 13 of this year. In mid-October, the final 15-day tests of its equipment were completed, the results of which were evaluated positively by Rosatom.
What you should know about BelAES
Since 2011, the Belarusian nuclear power plant has been built near Ostravets, in the Horaden region, 22 km from the border with Lithuania, 50 km from Vilnius and 125 km from Minsk. The launch dates were postponed several times. Initially, the launch was planned for 2018, Lukashenka later stated that Russia missed the deadline. Finally, the NPP launch ceremony took place on November 7, 2020. The NPP-2006 project was selected for construction — a typical Russian project of a new generation nuclear power plant using the VVER-1200 water-water power reactor. According to the same project, the reactors of the Novavoronesk NPP and the Leningrad NPP-2 operating in Russia were built. Bel NPP is being built by the Russian state company “Rosatom” at the expense of a loan from Russia. Belarus borrowed up to 10 billion dollars to finance 90% of the cost of construction of two nuclear power plants. Repayment of the loan begins 6 months after the date of commissioning of the nuclear power plant, but no later than April 1, 2021. Belarus asked Russia to extend the loan for 10 years. The station will have two power plants with VVER-1200 (B-491) reactors with a capacity of up to 1200 MW each. The design capacity of the nuclear power plant is 2.4 thousand MW. When the nuclear power plant operates at full capacity, the station will provide 18 billion kilowatt-hours per year – half of what Belarus currently consumes. Lithuania has repeatedly questioned the selection of the Ostrovets site for the construction of the NPP. The country cited 10 reasons not to build the Bel NPP, accused the Belarusian authorities of concealing information about the plant. Lithuania protests against Bel NPP at the highest state level, expresses protests in international structures. The president of Estonia supports Lithuania. The Astravetskaya NPP site was recognized as dangerous as early as 1993. Then 7 suitable sites, 15 moderately suitable and 6 unsuitable ones were found. The Ostrovetsk site was among the last. The authorities and officials of Belarus are not in a hurry to respond to reports of incidents during the construction of their own nuclear power plant. Usually, incidents at the Bel NPP are officially reported only after information about them appears in the media – yes, the fall of the reactor housing was reported only after international pressure. In the end, the hull that fell was replaced (the Russians are going to use it at another nuclear power plant). The new one accidentally hit a pole, but no damage was found, so they decided not to change the case a second time. Spent nuclear fuel from Bel NPP will remain in Belarus. Environmentalists claim that Belarus chooses the most expensive and dangerous way to store spent fuel from nuclear power plants. In March 2023, Lithuanian intelligence said that Belarus and Rosatom had hidden incidents and defects in the reactor systems of the first and second power plants last year. The Ministry of Energy of Belarus rejected the accusations and stated that such a report is a “targeted action to discredit BelaNPPP”. According to atomic physicist Andrey Azhorouski, it will be very expensive to stop the station now. At the same time, he is inclined to trust the reports of Lithuanian intelligence. A number of indirect signs indicate that there are tens of thousands of defects at the Astravetsia NPP.
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