EU Parliament urges Belarus to suspend launch of Astravyets nuke plant
<p> MINSK, Feb 11 - PrimePress. The European Parliament on 11 February 2021 adopted a resolution demanding to suspend the launch of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP, Astravyets, Grodno Oblast) and voiced concerns about its safety. The text of the resolution is published on the website of the European Parliament. </p> <p> </p> <p> The document says whereas the plant started to generate electricity on 3 November 2020 despite multiple remaining safety concerns and without evidence of the degree of implementation of the recommendations by the EU peer review of 2018 and by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). </p> <p> </p> <p> The EU parliament notes with concern that the plant is being implemented as a geopolitical project of Belarus and Russia and that its construction and future operation is a source of possible threat to the European Union and its Member States with regard to safety, health and the protection of the environment. </p> <p> </p> <p> The EU parliament remains concerned about the hasty commissioning of a nuclear power plant which does not comply with the highest international environmental and nuclear safety standards, including the IAEA recommendations. </p> <p> </p> <p> The resolution deplores the persistent lack of transparency and official information regarding recurrent emergency shutdowns of the reactor and equipment failure during the commissioning stage of the plant in 2020, including the breakdown of four voltage transformers and the malfunctioning of cooling systems, while there were eight known incidents during the construction stage of the plant, including two incidents related to the reactor pressure vessel. </p> <p> </p> <p> The document notes that the quantity and frequency of safety incidents raise major concerns regarding the poor quality assurance and control in the plant’s design, manufacturing and assembling phases and its low operational safety, which need to be properly addressed in the EU peer review. </p> <p> </p> <p> Belarus’ first nuclear power plant in Ostrovets (a town in the Grodno Oblast also referred to as Astravyets) will have two units with a combined capacity of up to 2,400 megawatts. The AES-2006 Russian standard design of (generation 3+) was chosen for its construction. Rosatom’s division Atomstroyexport acts as the general contractor for the NPP construction. The Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant RUE is the project customer and the future operator of the NPP. The ceremony of the official launch of the NPP took place in early November 2020. According to presidential decree No.447 of November 30, 2020, the first power unit of the NPP will be put into commercial operation in 2021, the second power unit – in the first half of 2022. End </p>
2021-02-12
Primepress
EU Parliament urges Belarus to suspend launch of Astravyets nuke plant
MINSK, Feb 11 - PrimePress. The European Parliament on 11 February 2021 adopted a resolution demanding to suspend the launch of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP, Astravyets, Grodno Oblast) and voiced concerns about its safety. The text of the resolution is published on the website of the European Parliament.
The document says whereas the plant started to generate electricity on 3 November 2020 despite multiple remaining safety concerns and without evidence of the degree of implementation of the recommendations by the EU peer review of 2018 and by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The EU parliament notes with concern that the plant is being implemented as a geopolitical project of Belarus and Russia and that its construction and future operation is a source of possible threat to the European Union and its Member States with regard to safety, health and the protection of the environment.
The EU parliament remains concerned about the hasty commissioning of a nuclear power plant which does not comply with the highest international environmental and nuclear safety standards, including the IAEA recommendations.
The resolution deplores the persistent lack of transparency and official information regarding recurrent emergency shutdowns of the reactor and equipment failure during the commissioning stage of the plant in 2020, including the breakdown of four voltage transformers and the malfunctioning of cooling systems, while there were eight known incidents during the construction stage of the plant, including two incidents related to the reactor pressure vessel.
The document notes that the quantity and frequency of safety incidents raise major concerns regarding the poor quality assurance and control in the plant’s design, manufacturing and assembling phases and its low operational safety, which need to be properly addressed in the EU peer review.
Belarus’ first nuclear power plant in Ostrovets (a town in the Grodno Oblast also referred to as Astravyets) will have two units with a combined capacity of up to 2,400 megawatts. The AES-2006 Russian standard design of (generation 3+) was chosen for its construction. Rosatom’s division Atomstroyexport acts as the general contractor for the NPP construction. The Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant RUE is the project customer and the future operator of the NPP. The ceremony of the official launch of the NPP took place in early November 2020. According to presidential decree No.447 of November 30, 2020, the first power unit of the NPP will be put into commercial operation in 2021, the second power unit – in the first half of 2022. End