Work on Belarusian nuclear power plant proceeds on schedule

Work at the construction site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant proceeds on schedule, BelTA learned from Belarusian Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich on 21 December.

The official said: “We have a work schedule. Everything must be done to execute it on time. And we are on time. The control point when the first power-generating unit is scheduled for launch is December 2019.”

The readiness of the first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant stands at 85%, that of the second unit – 65%.

Construction and installation operations are being done on all the facilities and structures of the first unit and the second unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. As many as 33 subcontractors are hard at work, including 19 Belarusian ones and 14 Russian ones. Over 7,000 construction and installation workers are employed. Since the beginning of the year they have poured 97% of the planned amount of concrete and have installed 99% of the required amount of reinforcing bars.

General construction work is nearing completion at the first unit of the nuclear power plant. The installation of electric technology and heat technology systems is in full swing. The installation of primary process equipment is in the final phase. Startup and commissioning operations are being carried out. Systems are being prepared for hydraulic testing and circulation flushing. As for the second unit, the primary equipment of the reactor unit has been installed. The installation of process pipelines and turbine systems is in progress.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast using a Russian design featuring two VVER-1200 reactors with the total output capacity of 2,400MW. The first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2019, with the second one to go online in 2020.