BelNPP in 3D and in Reality

BelTA’s report from Ostrovets on how they are going to make the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP) the safest in the world, why they are creating a clone of the NPP and building "secret corridors”.

Belarus is building the Russian-design AES-2006 of the three-plus generation nuclear power plant 18km away from Ostrovets.

The maximum height of each of the two units is 70m. This is slightly below the height of a 24-storey building. Evaporative cooling towers will be 167m high and will be among the tallest structures in the country.

The pace of construction is optimal, says Director General of the Belarusian nuclear power plant Mikhail Filimonov. All works are on schedule. There have been no problems with the financing of the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. A reactor vessel, which is manufactured by the Volgodonsk-based Atommash of ZAO AEM Technologies, will be delivered to the site by the end of the year. Belarus’ most powerful hoisting crane with the lifting capacity of 1,350 tonnes will be used to put the most important element into the ‘heart’ of the first unit. After that the structure will be covered by a "nuclear cap", as the specialists of the plant call it.

The nuclear power plant will have a double containment system. There will be a corridor between the external and internal envelops to provide additional security.

The internal envelope will be 1.2m wide, surrounded by an 80cm wall. Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk noted that such a construction (external and inner envelopes with a corridor between them) protects power-generating units from all possible natural disasters and emergencies. Even an aircraft crash is not a problem for such an ultra strong construction as the future nuclear power plant in Belarus, representatives of the BelNPP said.

At present nearly 4,500 people work on the construction site of the nuclear power plant.

The workforce at the site will increase to 6,000-6,500 people by the end of the year. The personnel number will hit 8,500 in 2016-2017.

The construction of the education and training center of the Belarusian nuclear power plant will be over by the yearend. The training center will have an equipment simulator that will fully duplicate the BelNPP management tools.

In fact, the NPP personnel training is done in three stages. According to Mikhail Mikhadyuk, to occupy a leading position one needs to start with a less influential job, study the ‘secrets’ of nuclear energy production and climb to the top of the job ladder in at least 8-10 years.

The first power-generating unit will become operational in November 2018, the second – in mid-2020.

As for Ostrovets which will become the town of nuclear experts in the future, large scale construction projects are in full swing there. Both social infrastructure facilities and unique objects that cannot be seen in other towns are being built in Ostrovets. By 2020 the population of the town is expected to increase almost three times to more than 30,000 people.

Natalya ZLOTNIK,
Photos by Oksana MANCHUK.