Stress tests demonstrate Belarusian nuclear power plant’s resilience against extreme impacts

Stress tests have demonstrated the resilience of the Belarusian nuclear power plant against extreme impacts, BelTA learned from Anatoly Bondar, Chief Engineer of the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, on 12 October.

All the nuclear power plants are subjected to stress tests after the Fukushima events in order to evaluate their readiness for extreme impacts. “The stress tests the Belarusian nuclear power plant has been subjected to have demonstrated that the facility does not need radical adjustments and improvements,” said Anatoly Bondar.

Belarus will forward a copy of the national report on results of the Belarusian nuclear power plant stress tests to the European Commission by the end of the month. Experts representing nuclear and radiation safety agencies from European countries will take part in evaluating the results.

Belarus stress-tested its nuclear power plant in 2016 using European methods and taking into account recommendations based on the European Commission’s and the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group’s (ENSREG) specifications. As part of the stress testing process the resilience of the Belarusian nuclear power plant as well as its adaptation to extreme impacts was tested. The safe operation of the nuclear power plant in the face of extreme external impacts was evaluated. Consequences of natural phenomena were forecasted such as combinations of floods, extreme weather conditions and external impacts, consequences of the nuclear power plant’s losing safety functions due to the loss of external power.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is built using the Russian standard Generation III+ design AES-2006 near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2019, with the second one to go online in 2020.