Belarusian nuclear power plant expected to seriously influence regional development

The construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant will seriously influence the development of the area where the project is being implemented, BelTA learned from Paks Mayor Janos Suli in the nuclear industry information center in Minsk on 9 December.

The Paks Mayor said: “We can see similarities between the construction of the Paks nuclear power plant and the Belarusian nuclear power plant in Ostrovets. Before the project Paks was home to about 10,000 people. Now the population exceeds 19,000. Respectively a nuclear power plant considerably affects the development of the region.”

Janos Suli noted that initially only the town infrastructure was developed when the Paks nuclear power plant was built near the Danube River. Later on infrastructure was developed on both banks of the river and affected a total of 13 populated localities in the end. These communities received money for their development during the construction of the nuclear power plant and later on.

In his words, 1,600 apartments have been built in Paks as a result of the nuclear power plant construction project.

BelTA reported earlier that as many as 17 residence buildings will be erected in Ostrovets by 2017 for personnel of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. Plans have been made to commission a residence building with the total area of 3,500m2 in the first residential area by the end of the year. Another four buildings with the total area of 13,400m2 will be commissioned in the second residential area. Another 12 buildings with the total area of 49,400m2 will be commissioned in 2016. The housing construction process will end in 2018, with 3,381 apartments ready. Of the total over 2,000 apartments will be rented ones. Between 2009 and 1 July 2015 as many as 20 residence buildings were commissioned in Ostrovets or 91,100m2 of housing.

In late November Vasily Polyukhovich, Deputy Director of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Belarusian Energy Ministry, assured mass media that the entire social infrastructure, including children daycare centers and schools, will be built for personnel of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. In October 2015 about 4,600 construction workers were employed at the construction site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant.

A Hungarian delegation made up of representatives of municipal government agencies visited Belarus on 7-9 December. During the visit the guests were made familiar with the construction progress at the nuclear power plant construction site. They also visited the information center in Ostrovets and the education and training center of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. The Hungarian delegation visited the nuclear industry information center in Minsk on 9 December.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is a project to build an AES-2006 type nuclear power plant 18km away from Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The Belarusian nuclear power plant will have two power-generating units with the total output capacity of up to 2,400MW (2x1,200MW). In line with the general contract for building the nuclear power plant the first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2018, with the second one to go online in 2020.

The Paks nuclear power plant is Hungary’s only nuclear power plant in use. The power plant is located 100km away from Budapest and 5km away from the town of Paks. The facility was built using a Soviet design (four VVER-440 type reactors). The nuclear power plant generates over 50% of the electricity generated in Hungary. Plans have been made to build two more VVER-1200 reactors.