MINSK, 21 June (BelTA) - The future Belarusian nuclear power plant will have more than 100 active and passive safety systems, the head of the environmental impact audit department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Alexander Andreev, told a video-press briefing in Minsk.
According to him, the Belarusian NPP project is safe and reliable. This project has been implemented in both in Russia and abroad and proved reliable. “For example, the nuclear power plant in China operates on the same principle. The same NPP project is being implemented in Bulgaria. It is absolutely safe and reliable,” he said
The IAEA experts have praised the preparatory work for the NPP construction in Belarus. The agency had already sent its missions to Belarus. “We received no negative remarks from the agency. The assessment was positive including the national legislation and training of specialists for the future nuclear power plant,” Alexander Andreyev stressed. “Cooperation with the IAEA will be continued,” he added.
Belarus’ first nuclear power plant will be built using the Russian NPP-2006 project developed by the Saint Petersburg Atomenergoproyekt Institute. The groundwork on the Belarusian nuclear power plant project at the Ostrovets site will begin in September 2011. Early works alongside with the construction of roads and railways have already been launched. The Russian engineering company Atomstroyexport is the general contractor. The plant will consist of two power units with the total capacity close to 2,400MW. The first power unit of the Belarusian power plant is supposed to go online in 2017, the second one in 2018.
