Belarusian nuclear
power plant

French and Finnish ecologists are ready to join the public environmental impact monitoring of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (NPP), Chairman of the Council of the Belarusian public association Ecological Initiative Yuri Solovyov told a press conference hosted by BelTA on 25 April.

“Our French and Finnish counterparts confirmed their readiness to take part in the program to monitor the construction of the nuclear power plant in Belarus,” he said.

In his words, the matter pertains to the study of the NPP impact on the flora and fauna of the Viliya river basin not far from the NPP construction site and the impact of the plant on other environmental components in the vicinity. It is expected that this stage of the monitoring program will be launched this year.

Belarusian ecologists are working on the budget necessary for the implementation of these programs and reimbursement of the costs of transfer, catering and staying for foreign colleagues who are expected to partake in the monitoring, Yuri Solovyov said.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant intends to get the full license for the first power-generating unit next week, BelTA learned from Anatoly Bondar, Chief Engineer of the enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, during a mass media tour to the Ostrovets construction site on 17 April. The tour had been arranged by the Energy Ministry.

The full license authorizes the entire volume of the work before the nuclear power plant is commissioned. “The full license is under consideration. Conditions for the license’s effect are being prepared by the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry,” explained the specialist. The work proceeds on schedule. Yet he added that experts of the Nuclear Energy Institute Sosny had had quite many remarks about the design documents. The operating organization and the general designer had done effective work to address the remarks, stressed Anatoly Bondar.

Construction workers started pouring concrete into the foundation of the 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 generating 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 merged company OAO NIAEP – ZAO Atomstroyexport (ASE) 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-generating unit of the nuclear power plant is scheduled for launch in November 2018.

As of 5 April as much as 5% of the total work required to build the Belarusian nuclear power plant was completed.

As much as 5% of the total work needed to build the Belarusian nuclear power plant has been done, BelTA learned from Andrei Barkun, Deputy Director General for Capital Construction of the enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, during a mass media tour arranged for Belarusian and foreign reporters as part of the sixth international nuclear industry expo and conference AtomExpo Belarus 2014 on 3 April.

Andrei Barkun confirmed that the time gap between the start of the construction of the first and second power-generating units of the nuclear power plant was only six months instead of 1.5 years. The headway was secured thanks to the earlier start of excavation operations at the construction site of the second power-generating unit. Thanks to this they were able to more effectively use the equipment that was no longer needed after excavation operations were finished at the construction site of the first power-generating unit. According to the Deputy Director General for Capital Construction of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, the fulfillment of the financial plan of the construction project is getting close to 5%. He explained that equipment of the nuclear power plant accounts for a large part of the prime cost of the nuclear power plant. “So far tenders have been held for 70% of the equipment the first and second power-generating units need, contractors have been chosen, contracts have been signed. Parts are now manufactured and some of them require from one to two years to make. The first payments have been transferred to the manufacturers,” said Andrei Barkun.

A core catcher was delivered to the first power-generating unit construction site in late autumn. The installation will begin in May. The executive explained that the core catcher was delivered ahead of the schedule because the supplier had concerns about its inability to make it on time due to late river navigation forecasts for 2014. The bottom part of the core catcher is at the preinstallation site of the first power-generating unit’s construction site.

According to the latest data as many as 2,600 people are employed at the Belarusian nuclear power plant construction site, including about 2,100 Belarusian workers. The other 500 workers are employees of the Russian company Rosspetsenergomontazh. The company employs a lot of Belarusians and specializes in erecting energy industry installations. Two former specialists of the Ignalina nuclear power plant have been hired to work for the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant. One of them is the head of a turbine division. By the end of the year the number of workers involved in the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant is expected to reach 3,400 people. “The volume and the pace of the work will be higher,” said Andrei Barkun. “Work is now in progress at 40 facilities of the nuclear power plant. Work on 15 of them began in Q1 2014. A total of 120 facilities of the Belarusian nuclear power plant will have to be built”.

Dates: 1 — 3 April 2014 Venue: Minsk, the Republic of Belarus, Winners avenue, Building 20/22 (Football arena) The forum is held to demonstrate latest technologies for design, construction, operation and safety ensuring of nuclear power plants; facilitate nuclear research in Belarus; and support nuclear industry staff training system in the country. The plenary session is to discuss issues related to implementation of the national nuclear power policy and energy security. The forum’s business program includes section sessions and presentations of companies which are to participate in the exhibition, as well as round-table discussions dedicated to conceptual aspects of the nuclear build in Belarus, legal support and public awareness systems. The forum will be attended by heads and specialists of the Russian nuclear industry, representatives of research and educational institutions of Belarus, suppliers of technologies and equipment, country’s executive bodies and other organizations which are involved in building the nuclear power plant in the country.

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.