Rosatom to hand over second unit of Belarusian nuclear power plant to customer in mid-2022

The second unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant will be handed over to the customer in mid-2022, BelTA learned from Aleksandr Lokshin, First Deputy Director General for Operations Management of the Russian state nuclear industry corporation Rosatom, after the fueling of the reactor of the first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant began on 7 August.

Aleksandr Lokshin said: “We work on the second unit on schedule. The unit will be handed over to the customer in mid-2022.”

He pointed out that Belarusian companies had done 70% of the construction work. The ratio of personnel was two to one in favor of Belarusian workers during the construction stage. The ratio changed a bit later on when startup and commissioning operations and installation operations had to be done.

The executive also thanked the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) for cooperation and strict oversight.

According to Aleksandr Lokshin, Rosatom counts on continued cooperation with Belarusian specialists even after the nuclear power plant near Ostrovets is commissioned. “We are building many nuclear power plant units across the globe and Belarusian specialists already participate in two construction projects of ours – the Kursk nuclear power plant and the Rooppur nuclear power plant in Bangladesh. We hope cooperation will not stop once the Belarusian nuclear power plant is commissioned,” he added.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast using the Russian design AES-2006 featuring two VVER-1200 reactors with the total output capacity of 2,400MW. The Russian state nuclear industry corporation Rosatom is the general contractor. Generation III+ reactor units boast improved technical and economic parameters. In line with the Belarusian-Russian intergovernmental agreement the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant is funded by a state export loan to the tune of up to $10 billion. VEB.RF and BelVEB are the banks in charge of servicing the loan.