Second reactor of Belarusian nuclear power plant getting flushed, cleansed

MINSK, 17 June (BelTA) – Passive and active safeguards of the open reactor of the second power-generating unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant are now being flushed with water, the press service of the Russian state nuclear industry corporation Rosatom told BelTA.

It is a most important, strictly regulated operation, during which chemically demineralized water is used to flush and cleanse the installed equipment and pipes of the safeguards and the normal operation systems, which are connected to the primary circuit of the reactor unit. The working capacity of the pumps of the safeguard systems and the normal operation systems is checked as part of the process.

The beginning of the flushing and cleansing of the equipment and the pipes of the passive and active safeguards and the normal operation systems represents the beginning of preparations for hydraulic trials and circulation flushing of the primary circuit of the reactor unit of the second power-generating unit, ASE Company Vice President and director of the Belarusian nuclear power plant construction project Vitaly Polyanin said. The beginning of the process indicates that the technological systems are ready for full-scale startup and commissioning operations.

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. Rosatom's engineering division – ASE Company – is the general contractor. The first unit is supposed to go online in 2020, with the second one scheduled for launch in 2021.