First Reactor for Belarus in 2015

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -The reactor for the first nuclear power plant in Belarus will be delivered next year.

Atomenergomash, part of Russian nuclear major Rosatom (Moscow, Russia), confirmed that the first of two reactors will be delivered by the end of 2015. The Ostrovets nuclear plant is a $10 billion project which will have a total generating capacity of up 2,400-megawatts (MW), enough to supply 28% of the country's electricity needs.

Located near the north-western border with Lithuania, the plant will boast two VVER-1200 reactors manufactured by Atomstroyexport (Moscow, Russia), rated at 1200 MW each. The reactor is due for commissioning in 2018, followed by the second in 2020. Atomstroyexport secured the contract against competition from French engineering company Areva S.A. (ENX:CEI) (Paris, France) Toshiba-owned Westinghouse Electric Company(Monroeville, Pennsylvania) in October 2011. For additional information, see October 18, 2011, article - Russia, Belarus Agree to Construction of Ostrovets Nuclear Power Plant.

Belarus first announced plans to a nuclear power plant in 1980s but these were put on hold in 1986 after an explosion and fire at the neighbouring Chernobyl reactor in Ukraine released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, which spread over much of the former Soviet-controlled Ukraine and Europe.

The resurrected project has caused much controversy with neighbouring Lithuania, which has complained that the plant is just 50km from its capital city of Vilnius and that construction started before the completion of any Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Lithuania has demanded answers as to why the plant is being located in a known earthquake region and how the reactor will be cooled.

Belarus has also fallen foul of the European Commission (E.C.). for failing to answer technical queries. E.U. Energy Commissioner, Günther Oettinger, said last year: "We have contact with the government in Belarus. It's mainly up to them to decide what happens and it's mainly up to us to look at what the European Union's interest is. It's an open discussion. For me, as the European Commissioner, it's relevant and important to keep best contact with our concerned member states, those of Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia".

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