Belarus takes all measures to ensure BelNPP safety

MINSK, 11 May (BelTA) - Belarus is taking all measures necessary to ensure the safety of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (BelNPP), Belarus Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk said during a video briefing hosted by BelTA on 11 May, BelTA has learned.

“We are taking all necessary measures to ensure our BelNPP is safe. Today we are more interested in this, perhaps, than all our neighbors, because we have survived the Chernobyl tragedy and we understand what it is,” Mikhail Mikhadyuk said as he commented on Lithuania's position regarding the BelNPP construction.

In his words, Lithuania's stance is purely political. “We know that Lithuania also initiated the construction of a new nuclear power plant, but unfortunately they failed to implement this project because of various reasons,” the deputy minister said.

According to Mikhail Mikhadyuk, a number of European Union countries had launched projects similar to that of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. “Moreover, we have not received any questions from Lithuanian nuclear safety specialists. All questions have been mainly from politicians,” he added.

As for the BelNPP staffing, the deputy minister said that the staff for the first unit has completed training and received the appropriate licenses to operate the unit from the regulator. Recruitment of personnel for the second unit has mostly been completed, too. Their training is underway.

Mikhail Mikhadyuk said that specialists from other countries had been invited to operate the BelNPP. First of all, these are Russian and Ukrainian specialists with experience of working at nuclear power plants. Belarus trained its staff at the BelNPP training center, similar to the Russian ones.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast using a Russian design featuring two VVER-1200 reactors with the total output capacity of 2,400MW. Rosatom's engineering division – ASE Company – is the general contractor. The first unit is supposed to go online in 2020, with the second one scheduled for launch in 2021. On 6 May the Belarusian Energy Ministry announced the delivery of nuclear fuel for the first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant.