Physical launch of first unit of Belarusian nuclear power plant scheduled for January 2020

OSTROVETS DISTRICT, 9 October (BelTA) – The physical launch of the first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant is supposed to take place in January 2020, BelTA learned from Director General of the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant Mikhail Filimonov as foreign reporters visited the nuclear power plant on 9 October.

“We are now in the stage of the coordinated schedule of readiness for circulation flushing. The physical launch is ahead of us. It is supposed to take place in January or so. The exact date will depend on startup and commissioning operations. Connection to the power grid will be done after that,” Mikhail Filimonov explained.

Asked when nuclear fuel for the first unit will be delivered, the official noted: “We intend to reach that step by the end of 2019.”

Director of the Nuclear Power Engineering Department of the Belarusian Energy Ministry Vasily Polyukhovich noted that the specific date of the nuclear reactor startup will depend on when nuclear fuel is delivered and passes an incoming inspection. “We don't want the physical launch to happen at any cost. Safety comes first. We cannot skip some steps in order to meet someone's expectations. Safety is the overriding priority,” Vasily Polyukhovich stressed.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast using a Russian design featuring two VVER-1200 reactors with the total output capacity of 2,400MW. ASE Company is the general designer and general contractor in the project to build the Belarusian nuclear power plant. It also represents Rosatom's engineering division.