Belarus to benefit greatly from NPP project

The nuclear power plant (NPP) will give Belarus a lot of advantages, Nikolai Grusha, the Director of the Nuclear Energy Department at the Energy Ministry of Belarus, said during the online conference hosted by the BelTA website on 22 March.

"This is what the estimates say. The estimates were made by Belnipienergoprom, which is the general designer in charge of coordination of the design-budget documentation for the NPP construction project,” the expert said.

Once the Belarusian nuclear power plant is commissioned, the country will be able to save energy up to 5.6 million tonnes of fuel equivalent, which is worth more than $1.7 billion. Other benefits include the reduction in electricity costs ($1010 million per year) and increased profits from sales of products in the power grid ($1022 million per year). The project payback period is about 19 years old.

The nuclear power plant will increase the economic and energy security of Belarus. The country will be ale to replace a significant portion of imported energy resources (about 5.6 million tonnes of fuel equivalent, or almost 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year), change the structure of the fuel and energy balance, diversify suppliers and types of fuels in the fuel and energy consumption mix, reduce the cost of electricity.

According to the expert, the NPP will promote economic and social development of the area of its location: enhance living conditions, improve the demographic composition, the educational and cultural level, medical services. The NPP construction orders will raise the technical and technological level of industrial companies of the country and enhance qualifications of the personnel, i.e. enhance production standards.

The experience gained during the NPP construction will enable the country to use industrial and personnel potential for the construction of future nuclear energy facilities both inside the country and abroad.

According to Nikolai Grusha, technical and economic estimates provided by scientists and specialists of Belarus in assessing the necessity of the nuclear energy program proved the appropriateness of the NPP construction. Various scenarios for meeting the forecast deficit in electric capacities suggest that the nuclear facility would reduce the electricity production costs through minimization of expenditure on fuel.

Commissioning of the nuclear energy generation units with the total capacity of about 2 million kW in 2018-2020 is an optimal scenario for Belarus’ energy development. The nuclear power plant will account for approximately 25% of the total electricity production in the country.

Belarusian nuclear station more environmentally friendly than coal-fired power plants

The radiation background around the Belarusian nuclear power plant will be much lower than that around coal-fired power plants. The information was released by Mr Sergei Boyarkin, an advisor of ZAO Rusatom Overseas (a daughter enterprise of the Russian state corporation Rosatom), during the online conference hosted by the BelTA website on 22 March.

In his words, the radiation background around coal-fired power plants can be higher than normal up to dozens of percent due to artificial reasons. It can be measured by a common radiation meter. Meanwhile increases in the radiation background around nuclear stations are not that noticeable. “According to our standards, changes of the radiation background cannot exceed 0.1%. In reality they are ten times less, which is 0.01%. Only supersensitive equipment can register the increase,” assured the advisor.

Sergei Boyarkin remarked that coal-fired power plants pollute the environment 200 times more actively than nuclear stations, provided the former experience no major emergencies. There are radioactive substances in everything. In nature there are no objects that do not contain radioactive substances. People and the air they breathe contain certain radioactive substances. Their concentration differs though. Such materials as granite and basalt contain quite a lot. One tonne of granite contains 40g of radioactive substances. “Naturally, coal contains radioactive substances, too. When coal is burnt, some of the substances are released into the atmosphere together with combustion gas and falls down later via precipitation,” explained the expert.

The bulk of the radioactive substances settles down in adjacent areas. “Once the idea of research reactors in Moscow was debated. Environmental organizations surveyed the radioactive background of the city,” said Sergei Boyarkin. “The highest background radiation was registered not where the research reactors are located, but in the three train stations square. Train attendants used to make tea using coal and threw the ash on the tracks. Over the years the ash has created a high radiation background”.

Another example. In 2008 Rosatom performed a survey of the radiation background at the construction site of the future Baltic nuclear power plant. “We registered an abnormal man-caused increase in background radiation in several locations. It turned out it had been caused by fallout of the emissions fired by coal-fired cogeneration plants of Poland. The winds blew westward and therefore the smoke went into the direction of Kaliningrad Oblast and settled down there. Radiation background was considerably higher in the places where the fallout concentrated”.

BelNPP to reduce annual carbon emissions by about 10m tonnes

The Belarusian NPP will allow reducing carbon emissions by about ten million tonnes per year, Advisor of Rosatom Overseas (a daughter company of Rosatom Corporation) Sergei Boyarkin told the online conference on the BelTA website on 22 March.

“The launch of the two-unit NPP in Belarus will help not only decrease the consumption of imported gas, but also reduce carbon emissions,” Sergei Boyarkin said. Annual carbon emissions will fall by about ten million tonnes because the consumption of coal will decline.

According to Sergei Boyarkin, any operational nuclear generation unit reduces emissions of greenhouse gases and has a positive ecological effect.

Climate change and clean energy are high on the agenda nowadays. Often ecological organizations forget that today nuclear energy is the only existing generation method, without taking into account theoretical energy sources, such as wind and solar stations, which does not produce emissions of greenhouse gases, Sergei Boyarkin stressed.

Expert: Belarusian nuclear station design offers better safety than foreign analogues

The nuclear station design that Belarus has chosen meets the strictest standards and recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency and boasts improved safety parameters. Several such parameters, namely the availability of active and passive safeguards, put the design head and shoulders above foreign analogues. The statement was made by Mr Nikolai Grusha, Director of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Belarusian Energy Ministry, during the online conference hosted by the BelTA website on 22 March.

Apart from that, the Russian design has other advantages such as the identical technical and legal base of Belarus and Russia, the absence of a language barrier, the possibility of getting as many Belarusian enterprises involved in the project as possible. “It is also extremely important that the prototype of the design has positive experience of the operation of the nuclear power plants that have been built using it,” said the official.

Belarusian scientists and specialists have done a lot to analyze and assess the nuclear station designs available on the global market and the companies that implement them, including the Russian state corporation Rosatom, the American-Japanese company Westinghouse-Toshiba, the French-German group AREVA, and designs by Chinese corporations. After thorough consideration of the nuclear station designs the companies offer on the global market of nuclear technologies Belarus chose the Russian design AES-2006 of the three-plus generation.

Rosatom known for cost-effective and timely project delivery, Boyarkin says

The state corporation Rosatom, which is the general contractor of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (NPP) construction project, is reputed for cost-effective and timely delivery of projects, Director of Rosatom’s programs Sergei Boyarkin told an online conference on the BelTA website on 22 March.

“Russia is the only country that constructs nuclear power stations in a cost-effective manner and on time,” Sergei Boyarkin said. The fourth power unit of the Kalininskaya nuclear power plant was launched one month ahead of schedule, which saved 6% of the budget. “This is something our foreign competitors dream of,” Sergei Boyarkin noted.

According to the expert, a high quality of the Russian project has been confirmed. An important thing is that Russia is the only country that practices the series production of nuclear power stations. “We have analyzed the previous experience and came to conclusion that the series production of NPPs is our specialty that we should focus on,” Sergei Boyarkin underscored.

He also noted that Belarus had to choose between the American, European and Russian projects of the 3+ reactors. “Nevertheless American and European specialists have not constructed any of these stations and they do not have the experience of their operation,” Sergei Boyarkin underlined. He noted that the first Russian 3+ unit was launched at the Tianwan nuclear power plant, China, in 2005. This power unit has been subjected to over 20 International Atomic Energy Agency inspections and was recognized the world’s first 3+ power unit that met all the requirements.

Sergei Boyarkin also said that nuclear energy specialists from France were to launch a unit in Finland but rescheduled its delivery for 2014. The initial budget of €3 billion has ballooned to €7 billion and the construction works still continue. “That is why several months ago the Finns invited us to participate in the tender for the construction of their new power unit, which is important for us because the Finnish nuclear watchdog is considered to be the strictest in the world,” Sergei Boyarkin noted. He continued by saying that the Russian technology is safe and referential, which is recognized by the European Union.

Sergei Boyarkin also underlined that the accident risk at the 3+ NPPs is 1:10 million years. The requirements for the new reactors were laid down at the beginning of the 2000s. “Even if an accident occurs the 3+ NPP is designed to self-localize the reactivity and will not let it spread outside the industrial site,” Sergei Boyarkin said. The 3+ NPPs have an important advantage: even in case of the most severe accident there would be no need in population evacuation. The evacuation radius is 800m, which is the area within the fence.

Belarusian nuclear station designed to survive aircraft crash

The Belarusian nuclear power plant will not be affected by an earthquake with the magnitude of eight points, a hurricane, an explosion, and even an aircraft falling on top of the reactor’s building. The statement was made by Mr Nikolai Grusha, Director of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Belarusian Energy Ministry, during the online conference hosted by the BelTA website on 22 March.

In his words, the AES-2006 design is a unique synergy of active and passive safeguards, which provide the highest level of security and meet requirements of the present day and future decades.

The passive safeguards, which do not require personnel and power supply to respond, include the dual protective shell made of metal and concrete. The internal hermetically sealed shell will not allow radiation to leak outside if an emergency happens while the external shell will prevent the reactor from an unfavorable external impact.

Expert: Belarus’ NPP will help cheapen electricity production by 20%

According to the estimates of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the commissioning of the nuclear power plant will help reduce the prime cost of electric energy by about 20% provided gas prices remain unchanged. The import of natural gas will reduce by 4-5 billion cubic meters per year, Director of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Energy Ministry of the Republic of Belarus Nikolai Grusha said on 22 March during an online conference on the BelTA website.

An analysis has revealed that fuel accounts for 12% to 25% of the prime cost of electric energy generated by nuclear power plants worldwide, of which natural uranium makes up 2-3% of the prime cost, while at conventional power plants the figure stands at about 70%. Thus, the price rise for uranium (it accounts for 8-10% of the fuel) will not lead to a considerable increase in rates, like it happens in the case of price rise for fossil fuels.

In line with the Belarus-Russia intergovernmental cooperation agreement on the construction of the nuclear power plant in Belarus, spent nuclear fuel purchased from Russia will be returned to Russia for recycling on the conditions formalized by a separate agreement.

Belarus’ NPP to be operated by domestic and foreign specialists

The Belarusian nuclear power plant will be operated jointly by Belarusian and foreign specialists, Director of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Energy Ministry of the Republic of Belarus Nikolai Grusha said on 22 March during an online conference on the BelTA website.

Belarusian specialists will make up the bulk of the NPP staff. About 70 foreign experts having extensive experience in NPP operation will be hired to work in key positions. In line with the general contract for the NPP construction, the operating staff will be trained by Russian experts in Belarus and at nuclear power plants in Russia.

The work will be structured into three parts. The first stage spans two years and provides for the development of a detailed staff schedule based on the NPP construction schedule. After that the legal framework regulating requirements for the operating staff will be developed and operating personnel will be hired.

The second stage deals with commissioning and staffing of the training center. During this stage the personnel for the first power generating unit will be hired in line with the staff schedule. The second stage will conclude when the first unit will become operational.

The third stage provides for training of the operating staff for the second unit and development of the further human resources management strategy taking into consideration the development of nuclear power energy.

Belarus is working to create the national personnel training system for its nuclear power plant. In 2008 Belarus launched a government program to train nuclear energy specialists. The program is implemented in the Belarusian State University, the Belarusian National Technical University, the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics and the International Sakharov Environmental University. Students majoring in nuclear energy are sent for internships to Russia and Ukraine; the teaching staff and scientists receive training at universities abroad.

Belarusian nuclear station to stay operational for at least 60 years

The Belarusian nuclear power plant will be used for at least 60 years. The information was released by Mr Nikolai Grusha, Director of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Belarusian Energy Ministry, during the online conference hosted by the BelTA website on 22 March.

“It is remarkable that in accordance with the accepted international practice the money required to decommission the station is collected as part of the electricity tariff and thus the power plant can earn the money required to decommission it in the future,” said the expert.

Taking into account Russian standards the investment consideration provides for setting the deductions to decommission the power plant as high as 1.3% of the prime cost of electricity. The money cannot be spent on purposes other than the decommissioning of the power plant.

According to the USA Council for National Resources and the International Atomic Energy Agency, decommissioning a nuclear power plant is estimated at 30-50% of the power plant’s construction cost.

NPP reduces adverse impact of energy system on environment

The use of a nuclear power plant reduces a negative impact of the energy system on the environment, Director of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Energy Ministry of Belarus Nikolai Grusha told an online conference hosted by BelTA on 22 March.

“Thermal electric power plants which operate on heating oil, coal and natural gas pollute the environment releasing carbon dioxide that is the main cause for greenhouse effect and global warming, sulphur dioxide which leads to acid rains, and nitrogen oxides. All the abovementioned pollutants are absent in the NPP operation,” the official said.

It is estimated that smaller amounts of organic fuel in use once the nuclear power plant is constructed in Belarus will reduce the annual amount of greenhouse gas emissions by 7-10 million tonnes.

The negative radiation impact is much higher in the area of a heat power plant running on coal, as compared to the NPP, said Nikolai Grusha. “This is because coal contains a number of radioactive elements, which after burning are partially released into the atmosphere. The main part is retained in ash residues. This is low-activity waste, but its amounts are extremely large,” the expert said.

When talking about possible release of radioactive substances into the atmosphere, Nikolai Grusha noted that the impact of nuclear power plants with this type of reactor is minimal on the environment and the population. Thus, during the period of it operation (60 years) of the NPP with a PWR reactor with the electrical capacity of 2 million kW, the surface soil contamination with radionuclides in the immediate vicinity of the plant does not exceed 0.01% of natural radioactive background typical of clean areas. The radiation burden on the population does not exceed 0.1% of the annual dose limit for the population (0.1 mSv).

"The radiation monitoring data show that the emissions from nuclear power plants in Russia are much less than the prescribed limits, sometimes dozens of times," said the department director.

Belarus may build second NPP in future

Belarus may build a second nuclear power plant in the future, Director of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Energy Ministry of Belarus Nikolai Grusha told an online conference hosted by BelTA on 22 March.

“The state vigorously supports the construction of the first nuclear power plant. There are talks on the possible construction of another one. Speaking as a specialist, I agree with the idea,” Nikolai Grusha noted.

In his words, consideration of an opportunity to construct the second nuclear power plant looks reasonable. The country, however, should adjust its plans to a long-term forecast of its social, economic and industrial development. “It is important calculating how much electricity we will need, what facilities are to be taken out. If the need for the construction of the second nuclear power plant is confirmed, why not building it. The Ostrovets site alone has room for the construction of at least two more reactors,” he added.

Advisor to the Executive Vice-President of Rusatom Overseas (Rosatom subsidiary) Sergei Boyarkin noted that their counterparts from the Czech Republic and Slovakia took the decision at the state level to increase the share of nuclear energy in the energy balance of the countries. “The Czech Republic aims to generate up to 60% of electricity at nuclear power plants in 2030. Slovakia announced its intention to reach 80%. These countries are the same as Belarus in size,” he said.

Expert: Russian solutions for Belarus’ NPP are the right choice

It was right to choose Russian technologies for the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, Director of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Energy Ministry of the Republic of Belarus Nikolai Grusha said on 22 March during an online conference on the BelTA website.

He noted that the choice of the supplier was the second most important thing after the choice of the NPP location. “We were unbiased; we analyzed existing nuclear power plants, new projects, and new designs. We could not seriously consider nuclear power plants designed in the 1970s or early 1980s,” the expert said. “Taking into consideration the toughening nuclear safety requirements, it made little sense to construct a “two-and-a-half” generation nuclear power plant suggested by China,” Nikolai Grusha said. He noted that such a plant had to be upgraded soon afterwards.

He reminded that when Belarus had to make a choice, there were few new projects. Belarus considered designs offered by a company from the United States, a French-German group and a Russian company. “In terms of technical specifications, the Russian designs could rival foreign ones and were even better in terms of the combination of active and passive security systems and many other parameters,” Nikolai Grusha said.

The expert believes that the language barrier is quite an issue, too. “There are tonnes of instructions. It is important to be able to speak the same language as the supplier of technologies. The technical staff does not know English well enough to be able to adequately respond to an emergency,” Nikolai Grusha said. In his view, it was much easier to provide training in the Russian language, therefore the choice in favor of the Russian company was the right one.

Rusatom Overseas: The lifespan of a nuclear power plant is 80 years

The working lifespan of a nuclear power plant is 80 years, said Mr Sergei Boyarkin, advisor of the Russian company Rusatom Overseas, during the online conference hosted by the BelTA website on 22 March.

“The working lifespan of the main equipment is 60 years. After the power plant has worked for 60 years without replacing the main equipment and with modernizing the auxiliary system, the lifespan can be extended by another 20 years. Thus, as a matter of principle, we can talk about the working lifespan of 80 years,” explained Sergei Boyarkin.

The specialist said that after the 80 years, the nuclear power plant is rendered nuclear-safe, fuel is removed as well as other parts that have become radioactive over the years. “The cost of the rehabilitation of the area depends on what we want to have at the site,” he said. “For instance, it is not pragmatic to return it to the greenfield state. Power lines and the infrastructure are already available. It is advisable to build another energy installation nearby after decommissioning the nuclear reactor. It is difficult to predict what kind exactly. Technologies that will exist in 80 years will determine it”.

The internationally accepted practice advises building an energy installation that uses the existing infrastructure if a power-generating unit has to be decommissioned. If the site is still used for production purposes, then the cost of rehabilitation will be 20-25% of the cost of a new installation.

“For instance, in Russia electricity tariffs include special deductions for decommissioning nuclear power plants in the future. They stand at 1.3%. The money is accumulated in a special fund and cannot be used for purposes other than decommissioning,” explained Sergei Boyarkin. “These sums cover the cost of decommissioning a power-generating unit many times over”.

As far as the territory is concerned, two so-called nuclear islands as large as 1.5 hectares each are subject to rehabilitation. The relevant territory rehabilitation technologies are available as well as specialists.