Belarusian nuclear power plant to get fuel in Q1 2020

MINSK, 19 December (BelTA) – Nuclear fuel will be delivered to the Belarusian nuclear power plant in Q1 2020, BelTA learned from Belarusian Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk on 19 December.

The official said: “You know, the delivery of nuclear fuel is not a panacea. We are virtually ready to receive it. We will bring it 1-1.5 months ahead of the physical launch to avoid the slowdown of work on the first unit. We will have nuclear fuel delivered in the first quarter of the year.”

In his words, the first unit is undergoing prelaunch operations, namely hot trials of the equipment. “It means that fuel imitators have been placed inside the nuclear reactor. We are testing how all the equipment works with routine operation parameters. Certain rules and procedures need to be followed,” the deputy energy minister explained. Once the hot trials are over, the equipment of the primary circuit and the secondary circuit will be inspected. The loading of nuclear fuel – the so-called physical launch – is the next step. After that the unit will be connected to the power grid after certain operations are complete.

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.