Belarusian NPP design praised as most technologically advanced

The design of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (NPP) is the most advanced one, Belarus’ Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk said during an online conference on the future of Belarus’ energy system hosted by BelTA on 23 October, BelTA has learnt.

“We think that our design is the most advanced in terms of active and passive security systems and technical solutions,” noted Mikhail Mikhadyuk. “The Russian side thoroughly analyzed what had happened in Fukushima and made some improvements to our design. This is why we can say that the design is field-proven,” he noted.

The operation of a similar power unit in China showed that its reliability level is one of the highest in the world, Mikhail Mikhadyuk underlined. That is why Belarus did the right choice with the main contractor for the NPP. “We made the right choice. The next objective is to build the power unit economically and to high standards,” the Deputy Minister said.

In his words, the state atomic energy corporation Rosatom is a worldwide leader in construction of nuclear power units. “The Russian Federation is currently building units in India, China and Turkey and has already signed contracts to build NPPs in Vietnam and Bangladesh. In the next few days a Bangladeshi delegation will visit the construction site of the Belarusian NPP to get familiar with our experience. Our colleagues from Vietnam and Turkey have already visited the site,” Mikhail Mikhadyuk stressed.

All in all, 31 countries operate 434 nuclear power units, with 70 more being under construction, of which 29 are in China, ten in Russia and seven in India.