First unit of Belarusian nuclear power plant scheduled for acceptance for operation in April-May

MINSK, 22 February (BelTA) – The acceptance for operation of the first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant is supposed to take place in April-May. First Deputy Head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) Leonid Dedul made the statement in BelTA's press center on 22 February.

The official said: “A commission will be set up to accept the first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant for operation. The prime minister will have to authorize the composition of the commission. Before that the readiness of the first unit for operation will be evaluated. The nuclear power plant will have to show all the necessary documents to oversight agencies.”

In his words, the state of objects and systems and the personnel's readiness will be checked. Gosatomnadzor will prepare a conclusion, on which basis the operating license will be issued. The acceptance commission will peruse all these documents. “We expect acceptance for operation to happen in April-May. If the commission produces a positive conclusion, the unit will be accepted for operation,” the official said.

“Public hearings will be held before the Emergencies Ministry board has to decide on whether to grant the operating license or not. As part of the public hearings information will be revealed about what grounds we have for considering the possibility of granting the license to operate the first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant,” the official said.

The Belarusian government's resolution No.71 of 3 February 2021 stipulates the procedure for accepting for operation various installations of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. The acceptance commission will have to check the readiness of an installation for safe operation. The quality of construction, installation, startup and commissioning work will be evaluated. Compliance with design documents as well as codes and standards will be verified. The commission will also have to check the installation's compliance with requirements of nuclear safety, radiation safety, industrial safety, fire safety, and ecological safety, compliance with sanitary and epidemiological safety regulations, technical norms and standards, power engineering and gas supply regulations, occupational health and safety regulations. Members of the acceptance commission will also have to check actual parameters of the installation against design documents. They will have to evaluate the quality and safety of materials, structures, products, and so on.

The date the commission signs the operation commencement act will be viewed as the date the installation of the nuclear power plant is accepted for operation.