Energy Ministry talks about prospects of building Belarusian nuclear power plant's third unit

OSTROVETS DISTRICT, 3 February (BelTA) – The construction of the third unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant is under consideration, BelTA learned from Belarusian Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk.

Speaking about prospects of building the third unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, Mikhail Mikhadyuk remarked that work on the matter is in full swing.

Mikhail Mikhadyuk said: “The first stage of the work is to evaluate how much electricity the country will consume in the future. How the third unit will fit the operation of the power grid is another consideration. To make it feasible, Belarus has to reach a certain level of electricity consumption. We are studying everything now. We are working with the Economy Ministry and the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus in order to work out a feasibility study soon and make the final decision. So, work on this task continues.”

Mikhail Mikhadyuk also pointed out: “The Belarusian nuclear power plant is designed taking into account a certain number of external factors – earthquakes, floods, falls of aircraft and the rest. Our design meets the latest requirements. Besides, the Belarusian nuclear power plant design remains the safest one across all the safeguards.”

In his words, five out of the seven new nuclear power plant units, which construction began in various parts of the world in 2022, are being built according to the AES-2006 design. It is the design, according to which the Belarusian nuclear power plant has been built.

“The design has been certified as meeting safety requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Europe. At present it is the world's most popular design. This design is being used to build nuclear power plants in Hungary, Bangladesh, and Egypt,” the Belarusian deputy energy minister said.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant uses the Russian design AES-2006 featuring two VVER-1200 reactors with the total output capacity of 2,400MW. It is an evolutionary nuclear power plant design with third-generation water-moderated reactors with enhanced safety. Such designs boast improved technical and economic parameters. A combination of active and passive safeguards is their key feature. The building housing the reactor is covered by a double protective shell. The reactor can survive an earthquake, a hurricane, and flooding.