Belarusian nuclear
power plant

Belarusian environmentalists would like to engage Latvian NGOs into the public monitoring of the environmental impact of the Belarusians nuclear power plant, Chairman of the Environmental Initiative association Yuri Solovyov said during an online briefing on the website of the BelTA News Agency on 20 December. “At present representatives of Belarus, Russia and Lithuania are involved in the public monitoring project. French and Finnish environmental organizations might join the project as well. Talks are underway to involve Latvian NGOs into the project,” Yuri Solovyov said. He reminded that within the framework of the environmental monitoring project, Belarusian NGOs jointly with the National Center for Radiation Control and Environmental Monitoring of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus did measurements of gamma radiation and collected samples of soil, water and air for caesium-137 and strontium-90 around the NPP construction site and several settlements located nearby, including the town of Ostrovets. “The data obtained during the tests will become the basis for an independent monitoring of the impact of the nuclear power plant on the environment. The results of the tests will be used to monitor the changes in the environment near the nuclear power plant after the facility is commissioned,” the environmentalist said. The project to conduct the public monitoring of the Belarusian nuclear power plant’s environmental impact has been carried out upon the initiative of a number of Belarusian ecological organizations with assistance of the general public, scientists, and specialists from Belarus, Lithuania, and Russia. The Russian side was represented by the interregional ecological organization Oka while the Lithuanian side was represented by the Institute for Regional Development and Democracy. The National Center for Radiation Control and Environmental Monitoring of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus used the data collected in 2013 to compile a detailed report. The report was made available via the websites of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection and the Nuclear Power Plant Construction Directorate. Results of the monitoring were presented to the general public of Lithuania at a roundtable session in Vilnius on 17 December.

Belarusian ecologists presented the public BelNPP environment assessment impact survey during the roundtable which was jointly conducted by the Belarusian Ecological Initiative NGO and the Institute of Regional Development and Democracy (Lithuania) in Vilnius Yuri Solovyov, the head of the Belarusian Ecological Initiative, told BelTA. The public of Lithuania got acquainted with the results of the monitoring carried out by volunteers of the environmental non-governmental organizations and experts of the national center of radiation control and monitoring at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Belarus in 2013. Previously, the study report was officially presented in Minsk. The main objective of the project is to create the information databank for regular independent monitoring of the impact of the Belarusian nuclear power plant on the environment at all stages of its life cycle: construction, operation and decommissioning. The participants of the roundtable noted that the results of the survey show that the radiation background and the content of radionuclides in the environment were normal. During the survey the environmentalists did measurements of gamma radiation and collected samples of soil, water and air for caesium-137 and strontium-90 around the NPP construction site and nearby villages of Goza and Trokeniki. In addition, they did laboratory radionuclide analysis of the samples of surface water taken from the Vilia (Neris) River, the main water artery flowing near the nuclear plant construction site. The roundtable was attended by representatives of the Lithuanian government, academia and environmental non-governmental organizations, mass media. “This is the first project to monitor the impact of the Belarusian nuclear power plant on the environment initiated by the Belarusian environmental NGOs, the results of which have been presented to the Lithuanian public," said Yuri Solovyov. He said that next year they are going to involve Lithuanian laboratories and experts to conduct a radiation survey of the environment impact of the nuclear power plant: “The aim is to keep Belarusian and Lithuanian public informed about the safety measures applied during construction and operation of the Belarusian nuclear power plant and Belarus’ implementation of the Espoo Convention.”

The Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry has started the expert evaluation of the documents required to issue the license to build the second power-generating unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. The information was released by Olga Lugovskaya, Head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department, on 17 December, BelTA has learned. According to the official, the package of documents has been received and has been forwarded to experts. In line with Belarusian laws the procedure to issue the license to build a power-generating unit of a nuclear power plant, in particular, the part regulating the construction of the main buildings and structures, can last up to one year. “Since we have the experience of expert evaluation for the first power-generating unit of the nuclear power plant, the work can be done somewhat faster,” specified Olga Lugovskaya. “We are definitely trying to do everything that can be done to accelerate the license issuance,” she added. Apart from evaluating the documents the regulating body is also examining the licensee (the Nuclear Power Plant Construction Directorate) for compliance with requirements of the license. Construction workers started pouring concrete into the foundation of facilities that will make up the first power-generating unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant at the Ostrovets site in November 2013. The Belarusian nuclear power plant will boast two power-generating units with the total capacity of up to 2,400MW (1,200MW each). The Russian design AES-2006 has been chosen to build the power plant. The design is fully compliant with international standards and IAEA recommendations. The Russian public joint-stock company OAO NIAEP – ZAO Atomstroyexport is the general designer and the general contractor for building the power plant. The timeline for implementing the project is stipulated by the general contract. The first power-engineering unit of the nuclear power plant is scheduled for launch in November 2018. Belarus and Russia signed the general contract to build the Belarusian nuclear power plant in July 2012. The cost of building the installation is primarily covered by a state export loan granted by Russia. In line with the relevant intergovernmental agreement the loan can provide up to $10 billion for 25 years to cover 90% of the cost of every contract between the Russian company ZAO Atomstroyexport and the Belarusian state institution Directorate for Nuclear Power Plant Construction.

Preparations to begin the main phase of the Belarusian nuclear power plant are vigorous. About 60% of the work to build installations of the manufacturing base that the future nuclear power plant will need has been completed. The information was released by the press service of the united company OAO NIAEP – ZAO Atomstroyexport after a session of the operations center in charge of building the nuclear power plant. The session was chaired by First Vice Premier of Belarus Vladimir Semashko, BelTA has learned. Representatives of the Belarus government took part in the meeting as well as the Nuclear Power Plant Construction Directorate (the buyer of the facility), the united company OAO NIAEP – ZAO Atomstroyexport (the general designer of the power plant and the general contractor), Belarusian subcontractors, and the Grodno Oblast administration. Participants of the session examined the construction site and discussed the progress in building the manufacturing base and the power plant itself. Work is now in progress to beautify the territory of the manufacturing base. The work on engineering networks, internal and external finishing of administration and living premises is nearly finished. The wing for special metal structures and iron reinforcements with a cold storage facility will be ready to receive iron reinforcements in late May. Offsite networks and installations for auxiliary needs, drinking water and fire water supply will be commissioned in June. The construction of all the 62 facilities of the manufacturing base and the offsite networks and infrastructure that make the operation of the manufacturing base possible will be finished in September 2013. Massive preparations have to be completed before the main phase of the nuclear station construction begins because the annual plan provides for accomplishing a lot. According to Yuri Pustovoi, OAO NIAEP’s director for building the Belarusian nuclear power plant, to accomplish the annual plan, it is necessary to start construction and installation work at ten facilities of the nuclear island and the turbine island of the first power-generating unit. The session also tabled purchase and delivery of equipment and the expert review of the design documents and the overall summary estimate of the Belarusian nuclear station. The excavation of the foundation pit for the second power-generating unit began on 1 February 2013. Work is now in progress at two power-generating units at the same time. Summing up results of the session, Valery Limarenko, President of OAO NIAEP, noted that the overall progress of the nuclear power plant construction is on schedule and is considerably ahead of schedule as far as some positions are concerned. “All the issues are handled promptly. Our key task is to build Belarus’ most important power engineering installation on time,” said Valery Limarenko.

The Russian company ZAO AEM Technologies (Atommash, the city of Volgodonsk) will fulfill the order for making equipment for the Belarusian nuclear power plant on time, the company’s Director General Yevgeny Pakermanov told media, RIA Novosti reports. Yevgeny Pakermanov reminded that in April the company signed the contracts to make both the molten core catcher and the reactor system for two power-generating units of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. “As far as the first contract is concerned, its fulfillment is closer as far as deadlines are concerned. We should supply the first lot of equipment as early as this year. We should supply the first reactor system for the first power-generating unit in 2015. The schedules are intense, they are close to the manufacturing time limit, but they are realistic,” he said. Yevgeny Pakermanov noted that the next week the Ukrainian enterprise Energomashspetsstal will start manufacturing long-cycle intermediates for the reactor shells. “It will be done so that in October we could get the intermediates and start working with them. Then we will be on the schedule the customer wants us to be. We will not fail the order,” assured the executive. In March ZAO AEM Technologies won the tender to make the reactor shell for the first power-generating unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. In line with the contract the order will be fulfilled by late 2015. After that, parts of the reactor shell will be delivered to the Ostrovets site where the nuclear station is being built. ZAO AEM Technologies will supply the reactor shell, internals (a shaft and a baffle), a set of protective pipes and the upper unit as well as supporting rings and alignment instruments. The company will also make the so-called molten core catcher. Belarus is busy building a nuclear power plant that will have two power-generating units with the total output of 2,400MW. The general contractor is the Russian company OAO NIAEP – ZAO Atomstroyexport. The first power-generating unit is scheduled to go online in 2018, with the second one scheduled for commissioning in July 2020.