Belenergo comments on timeline to launch second unit of BelNPP

MINSK, 13 January (BelTA) - Belenergo Deputy Director General Sergei Bobovich spoke about the timeline to launch the second unit of the Belarusian NPP is commissioned during an online conference hosted by BelTA's website.

"Work to commission the second unit involves the following stages: pre-commissioning, physical launch, reactor power startup, and trial operation. We are in the middles of the physical launch. Nuclear fuel has been loaded into the reactor of the second unit. Then we will seal the reactor and carry out necessary hydraulic tests, hot trials and bring the reactor to the minimum controllable power level," Sergei Bobovich said.

This will be followed by the reactor power startup. "It is about bringing the reactor from a level of physical launch to a level sufficient to start the turbine, then to an intermediate level. After that we will stabilize the unit at these levels, conduct necessary checks and equipment and systems trials. After that, we will proceed to the trial operation. We are planning to connect the second unit to the grid by the summer of 2022," Sergei Bobovich noted.

The first unit was connected to the power grid on 10 June 2021. One of the main issues is related to the operation of the unit and planning of maintenance works. “Maintenance is an annual scheduled procedure carried out on nuclear power plant units in order to maintain stable operation of the equipment for guaranteed safe power production. Today it has already been determined how the scope of such works will be distributed and who will perform them at the Belarusian nuclear power plant. We are in close contact with Rusatom Service, which is a Rosatom organization that performs maintenance outside the Russian Federation and supplies necessary equipment. The Belarusian company Belenergoremnaladka will perform works at the nuclear power plant outside the nuclear island, in particular, the turbine room, the chemical water treatment plant and with auxiliary equipment,” Sergei Bobovich said.