Minsk, Moscow confirm plans to commission Unit 1 of Astravyets nuke plant in 2021

<p> MINSK, Aug 14 - PrimePress. Russia and Belarus confirm their plans to put into operation the first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP, Astravyets District, Grodno Oblast) in 2021. This follows from the intergovernmental protocol on amendments to the agreement signed in March 2011 between the governments of both countries on cooperation in the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus, Prime reports. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The protocol, signed on July 14 this year, was published in Russia on the official portal of legal information on Friday. The protocol states that it become temporarily effective from August 14, 2020. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The protocol says that Russia and Belarus “are taking the necessary measures to put into operation the first unit of the nuclear power plant in 2021 and the second unit in 2022. It is noted that “the launch shall be confirmed by signing acceptance acts for each NPP unit completed by construction”. </p> <p>   </p> <p> On July 14, 2020 in Moscow, they signed a protocol on amendments to the Belarus-Russia interstate agreement of Nov 25, 2011 on granting the government of Belarus an export credit for nuclear power plant construction. The protocol says that the Russian loan has been extended for two years, while the interest rate became fixed and reduced to 3.3%. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Russia provided $10 billion in a state loan for the construction of the Belarusian NPP. The loan covers 90% of the construction cost. Previously it was planned that the repayment of the loan would begin six months after the commissioning of the nuclear power plant, but no later than April 1, 2021. The repayment was to be provided in 30 equal installments every six months. </p> <p>   </p> <p> On Aug 7, they started loading fresh nuclear fuel into the reactor core of the first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. This is one of the stages of the process of putting the power unit into operation. A total of 163 fuel assemblies with nuclear fuel will be loaded into the reactor in August. </p> <p>   </p> <p> After loading the fuel, the rector will be brought to the minimum controlled reactor power (1% of capacity), with appropriate research. From now on, the reactor will acquire the status of a nuclear power plant. After confirmation of reliability and safety of the unit operation on the design parameters, the power start-up stage will begin, during which the unit will be included in the grid for the first time. The power launch is planned for the fourth quarter of 2020. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Belarus’ first nuclear power plant in Ostrovets (a town in the Grodno Region also referred to as Astravyets) will have two VVER-1200 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. The startup of the first power unit was postponed from 2018 to 2019 and then to the third quarter of 2020. The second unit is expected to be launched in 2021. 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. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Lithuania took a firm stance against the Belarusian NPP at the very inception of the project. Its parliament officially declared the power plant a threat to Lithuania’s national security. Lithuania now spares no efforts to prevent the import of energy that will be generated by the NPP into the EU. Belarus, in turn, guarantees that the nuclear power plant will meet the highest safety standards. The Astravyets facility is located within a 50-km range from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. End </p>

2020-08-15

Primepress