Belarusian NPP seen as instruments to Union State high-speed rail service project

MINSK, 12 October (BelTA) - The Belarusian NPP can ensure the operation of a high-speed rail service of the Union State, Deputy State Secretary of the Union State Aleksei Kubrin said during the roundtable "Economic and environmental aspects of nuclear energy" at the 25th Belarusian energy and environmental forum Energy Expo, BelTA has learned.

"Today, almost the whole world uses high-speed railways. If we implement this project on the territory of Belarus and Russia, we will get direct access to Western Europe and actually create additional opportunities for the movement of goods from Southeast Asia to Western Europe and back. It is the Belarusian NPP that can provide the energy potential for a high-speed rail service that consumes a lot of energy," said Aleksei Kubrin.

He noted that the world is switching from hydrocarbon to electric transport. "The Belarusian nuclear power plant is the reserve that will allow us, Belarus and Russia, to address this issue quite smoothly," Aleksei Kubrin emphasized.

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 3+ generation nuclear units have improved performance indicators and fully complies with the international safety requirements and recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency.