Likhachev: Rosatom will continue to cooperate with Belarus in various areas

MINSK, 16 October (BelTA) - Rosatom will continue to cooperate with Belarus in various areas, Director General of Rosatom State Corporation Aleksei Likhachev told reporters before a meeting with Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko, BelTA has learned.

"The main topic of our today's conversation is the second unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP). It is in the mode of pilot operation. Last week, a large set of power, maneuverability and reliability tests was completed. The final stage of these tests is a comprehensive test: it is when a unit is operated at the maximum possible capacity for two weeks. The results are extremely positive. We conducted these tests in the same way as we do at Russian nuclear power plants. We are very pleased with the results. We really hope that the customer has the same opinion," Aleksei Likhachev noted.

According to him, all the best technologies were used to build the BelNPP. Belarusian specialists also took an active part in the work.

"The first unit is fully operational. More than 18 billion kWh of electricity has been generated. This is a very solid contribution to the energy supply of Belarus, to the energy sovereignty of the country," the director general stressed.

He noted that both the IAEA and specialists from all over the world attach great attention to the Belarusian nuclear power plant. "It is not often that new nuclear power units are put into operation in the world today. It is an even more rare thing when they are commissioned under the export scheme. This year, it was probably only in Belarus that the most advanced and safest unit on the planet has been built and put into operation according to the technology export scheme," Aleksei Likhachev said.

According to Rosatom and the Energy Ministry of Belarus, Belarus will have about 25% of electricity generated by the BelNPP by the end of the year. "This means that not only the UK and Canada but also the Russian Federation and the United States will be left behind," he said.

After the commissioning of the BelNPP, cooperation between Rosatom and Belarus will continue to develop. "We are not leaving Belarus at the end of this project. Throughout the life cycle of the nuclear power plant, we will continue to develop and deepen our cooperation in terms of its operation, fuel supply, and we will also offer new technological solutions," the director general said.

In addition, Rosatom runs programs in non-energy and non-nuclear technologies. In particular, these include nuclear medicine, energy storage, composites, 3D printers, digital technologies, etc.