European consulting for Belarusian nuclear power plant construction

European specialists provide consultative aid to Belarus in matters concerning nuclear safety and the construction of the nuclear power plant. The information was released by Olga Lugovskaya, Head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry, during the briefing session hosted by the BelTA press center on 17 December.

The official said that the responsibility for a nuclear installation lies with the country where the installation is located. “Since we are just starting implementing the program to build the first nuclear power plant, then there is no doubt that the experience of our colleagues, who are more advanced in this matter, will come in handy. We vigorously cooperate both with international experts within the framework of the European Commission and with Russian specialists. Certain funding has been apportioned for the next year for us to get consultative services from [the Federal Environmental, Industrial and Nuclear Supervision Service of Russia] Rostechnadzor. Experienced Russian experts are supposed to consult the Belarusian side directly at the construction site. They will closely examine our installation, study all the small things, pay attention to some critical points,” explained Olga Lugovskaya.

The European Commission cooperates with Belarusian specialists in providing the methods and approaches to examining safety substantiation reports. “The expert group includes specialists from Ukraine, Lithuania, Germany, Italy, and France. It is a very representative international team, which studies various materials although it does not provide expert evaluation. We have forwarded several documents to these international experts with approval of the Russian side since the documents are owned by the state corporation Rosatom. The experts are studying the data and give us recommendations,” said Olga Lugovskaya.

The Belarusian side and the European Commission are now agreeing a project for international technical aid in 2014-2015. The project provides for measures concerning the organization of oversight efforts. “It is oversight at the stage of construction, installation work. Our European colleagues are expected to take part in these events,” added the official.

Construction workers started pouring concrete into the foundation of facilities that will make up the first power-generating unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant at the Ostrovets site in November 2013. The Belarusian nuclear power plant will boast two power-generating units with the total capacity of up to 2,400MW (1,200MW each). The Russian design AES-2006 has been chosen to build the power plant. The design is fully compliant with international standards and IAEA recommendations. The Russian public joint-stock company OAO NIAEP – ZAO Atomstroyexport is the general designer and the general contractor for building the power plant. The timeline for implementing the project is stipulated by the general contract. The first power-generating unit of the nuclear power plant is scheduled for launch in November 2018.

Belarus and Russia signed the general contract to build the Belarusian nuclear power plant in July 2012. The cost of building the installation is primarily covered by a state export loan granted by Russia. In line with the relevant intergovernmental agreement the loan can provide up to $10 billion for 25 years to cover 90% of the cost of every contract between the Russian company ZAO Atomstroyexport and the Belarusian state institution Directorate for Nuclear Power Plant Construction.