Program for Belarusian nuclear station’s post-project analysis submitted

The program for the post-project analysis of the Belarusian nuclear power plant’s environmental impact has been submitted to the Espoo Convention Implementation Committee where all the interested parties may peruse the document. The information was released by Belarusian Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk on 27 May as he delivered a report in the public information center of the nuclear power plant, BelTA has learned. Representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Belarus — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Ukraine, and Switzerland — visited the information center and the construction site of the nuclear power plant on 27 May.

“We are completely open for a dialogue with all the interested parties and are ready to answer all the questions we may get,” said Mikhail Mikhadyuk.

The post-project analysis program has been put together in line with the Espoo Convention that Belarus has ratified. “The post-project analysis is an effective mechanism for interested parties to monitor the construction of the nuclear power plant in Belarus. The analysis will include a set of works, including a complex monitoring of the nuclear power plant’s impact on environmental components such as water, soil, and air,” said the official.

Austria, Poland, Latvia, Ukraine, and Lithuania have already expressed their desire to take part in the post-project analysis. “Moreover, Poland and Austria have already sent their questions to us,” explained Mikhail Pigulevsky, a leading specialist of the state-run enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant. In his words, after studying the program all the interested parties can suggest their own ways of monitoring researches based on their top concerns. After that the countries will discuss proposals together and may correct the document.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant will boast two power-generating units with the total generating capacity of up to 2,400MW (1,200MW each). The Russian design AES-2006 has been chosen to build the power plant. The design is fully compliant with international standards and IAEA recommendations. The Russian merged company OAO NIAEP – ZAO Atomstroyexport (ASE) is the general designer and the general contractor for building the power plant. The timeline for implementing the project is stipulated by the general contract. The first power-generating unit of the nuclear power plant is scheduled for launch in November 2018.

Construction workers started pouring concrete into the foundation of the facilities that will make up the first power-generating unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant at the Ostrovets site in November 2013.