MINSK, 24 May (BelTA) – Rosatom is ready to build the second nuclear power plant in Belarus if necessary, BelTA learned from Director General of the Russian state nuclear industry corporation Rosatom Alexey Likhachev.
Alexey Likhachev said: “We are ready to do it. Only the technical look and the location of the future installation are open to debate.”
“We know that Aleksandr Grigoryevich [Lukashenko, President of Belarus] would like to continue construction. We are ready to do it in any case. We just have to decide on the technical look and the site where the future facility will be located,” the executive said.
In his words, the parties have to decide on the timeline and the economic model of the project first.
“Our Belarusian partners now know the taste of nuclear electricity well. Energy consumption in Belarus has spiked. As far as I can see, Belarus is not going to stop increasing electricity consumption,” the Rosatom head noted.
Alexey Likhachev clarified that Rosatom is absolutely customer-friendly as far the location of the new nuclear facility is concerned: “We will abide by the decision of the Belarusian government and our Energy Ministry regarding where, when, with what output capacity, and according to which economic scheme the project will be implemented.”
He also said that at present both units of the Belarusian nuclear power plant operate at 100% of their output capacity and there are no complaints about their operation. The necessary oversight has been secured in order to guarantee safe operation of the nuclear power plant.