First unit of Belarusian nuclear power plant to stay disconnected from power grid for about one week

MINSK, 22 February (BelTA) – The scheduled disconnection of the first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant from the power grid will last for about a week. 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 first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant was shut down on 20 February as planned in order to carry out trials and maintenance checks in accordance with the pilot commercial operation stage program. “The nuclear power plant is in the final phase of the program to commission the first unit. A multitude of tests and trials is performed during every stage. Cohesive operation of the systems and the operation of safeguards are being checked. The reactor unit is cold now. In other words, electricity generation has been suspended. It had to be done for the sake of maintenance operations. It is a routine procedure and these actions should not worry the general public,” Leonid Dedul stressed.

“The necessary maintenance operations will last for about a week. After that the nuclear power plant will have to inform Gosatomnadzor that the reactor unit is ready to switch to a hot state and ready for electricity generation,” the official added.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast using the Russian design AES-2006 featuring two VVER-1200 reactors with the total output capacity of 2,400MW.