Spent nuclear fuel from the Belarusian NPP will be returned to Russia, Vladimir Gorin, Deputy Chief Engineer for Personnel Training of the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, told reporters, BelTA has learned.
“In line with the intergovernmental agreement, spent nuclear fuel shall be sent to Russia for recycling. It will be stored in Belarus only a short period of time,” Vladimir Gorin said.
Fuel shall be transported by rail, in special cars and containers. According to Vladimir Gorin, the technology is well-tested, and is used worldwide.
Nuclear fuel for the Belarusian nuclear power plant will be supplied by the Russian company TVEL. First deliveries are scheduled for Q4 2017. TVEL is part of Rosatom’s fuel division.
The Belarusian nuclear power plant is a project to build an AES-2006 type nuclear power plant 18km away from Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The Belarusian nuclear power plant will have two power-generating units with the total output capacity of up to 2,400MW (2x1,200MW). The Russian company NIAEP-ASE is the general designer and general contractor of the project. In line with the general contract for building the nuclear power plant, the first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2018, with the second one to go online in 2020.