Belarusian NPP to cheapen electricity generation

Once online the Belarusian nuclear power plant will reduce the prime cost of electricity generation for the entire national power grid, Nikolai Grusha, Director of the Nuclear Power Engineering Department of the Belarusian Energy Ministry, told the press on 22 April.

The prime cost of electricity generation is several times cheaper in most countries with nuclear power engineering. Therefore, there are reasons to believe that once the Belarusian nuclear power plant is operational, it will reduce the prime cost of electricity generation and may reduce electricity tariffs for households and enterprises, said Nikolai Grusha.

He said that there is enough money to build the nuclear station in Belarus, make it safe, train the personnel, and get profits from its operation.

Sergei Boyarkin, Program Director of the Russian state corporation Rosatom, told a press conference, a nuclear power plant is cheaper to operate than a gas-burning power plant but a nuclear power plant is more expensive to build. He said that Rosatom’s NPP construction practices follow the strictest standards regardless of the funding provided by customers. “We meet three kinds of standards. We meet standards of the country where we build our power plant. We also meet standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency although they are not mandatory. We also always comply with Russian standards,” said Sergei Boyarkin. Rosatom chooses the strictest standards and uses the practice in all countries.

NPP to cheapen electric energy in Belarus by 20%

As soon as the nuclear power plant is constructed in Belarus, the prime cost of electric energy will drop by 20% on average, Director of the Department for Nuclear Energy of the Energy Ministry of Belarus Nikolai Grusha said in an online conference hosted by BelTA on 22 April.

In his words, it was confirmed by the estimates made in the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

The official noted that the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant would not stall the implementation of other projects in the energy sector. “All the projects envisaged by the approved energy programs including reconstruction and upgrading of energy facilities with the use of Chinese loans will be implemented in time,” he noted.

A reminder, Belarus’ first nuclear power plant will be built on the Russian project of the NPP-2006. The groundwork on the Belarusian nuclear power plant project at the Ostrovets site will begin in September 2011. The Russian engineering company Atomstroyexport is the general contractor. The plant will consist of two power units with the total capacity close to 2,400MW. The first power unit of the Belarusian power plant is supposed to go online in 2017, the second one — in 2018. The cost of the project reaches $9 billion.

Belarus to cut gas import by 5bn cubic meters per year starting from 2018

After the commissioning of two units of the nuclear power plant, Belarus’ annual import of natural gas will reduce by 5 billion cubic meters per year starting from 2018, Nikolai Grusha, the director of the nuclear energy department of the Energy Ministry, told an online conference hosted by BelTA.

Currently, the country consumes 21-22 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Thus, with the commissioning of the nuclear power plant, Belarus will be able to cut Russian gas imports by almost a quarter.

Nikolai Grusha also said that the country implements the policy aimed at involving local and alternative fuels in the fuel mix and also state programs to increase energy security through energy conservation, development and modernization of energy facilities and implementation of modern high technology.

“However, neither hydro- nor wind power, or local fuels will satisfy the needs of the country in energy in the full extent. Therefore, the construction of the nuclear power is the project that will help step up the country’s energy security,” Nikolai Grusha said.

Belarus’ first nuclear power plant will use the Russian design AES-2006. It has been developed by the Saint Petersburg-based research and design institute Atomenergoproject (part of the Russian state-run corporation Rosatom). Earthwork operations to build the foundation pit for the Belarusian nuclear power plant will begin at the Ostrovets site in Grodno Oblast in September 2011. The nuclear power plant will boast two energy units with the total capacity of up to 2,400MW. The first one is supposed to go online in 2017, the second one is scheduled for launch in 2018.

Belarus to develop NPP emergency response plan

Belarus will develop the so-called emergency plan aimed at protecting the lives and health of citizens, the environment in the event of a radiological accident, the chief engineer of the NPP Construction Directorate Anatoly Bondar told an online conference hosted by BelTA.

According to him, the development of such a plan is envisaged in the law “On the use of nuclear energy”. It spells out that the work on the use of nuclear energy is based on the principle that the protection of lives and health of present and future generations of citizens, and the environment is the priority over all other aspects of the use of nuclear energy.

The director of the department also noted that the project will be implemented in Belarus in line with international standards and IAEA recommendations. The main advantages of the project are the high degree of protection through the use of independent channels of active and passive safety systems.

“The lessons from recent developments in Japan are certainly sad, and should be taken into account, but not in order to close the NPP construction project in Belarus, without which it is impossible to solve the issues of increasing the country’s energy security,” Nikolai Grusha believes.

No Fukushima fate for Belarusian NPP

The reactor unit of the future Belarusian nuclear power plant is modern equipment, which boasts a solid safety and reliability potential, this is why it is theoretically impossible that an emergency like the one that befell the Japanese nuclear power plant Fukushima will be repeated at the Belarusian nuclear power plant. The statement was made by Nikolai Grusha, Director of the Nuclear Power Engineering Department of the Belarusian Energy Ministry, during an online conference hosted by the BelTA website on 22 April.

In his words, the AES 2006 design that has been chosen for the Belarusian project has been made by the Saint Petersburg-based research and design institute Atomenergoproject. The design has considerable advantages over the Fukushima 1 project that was put together in the 1960s. The Belarusian project is an evolutionary one, specified the official.

Meanwhile, specialists of the Russian state corporation Rosatom are now looking into causes of the emergency at Fukushima 1. If necessary, the designs the Russian side is going to implement will be amended, said the representative of the Belarusian Energy Ministry.

Belarus to answer Lithuania’s questions on NPP construction

Belarus is expected to prepare and send to the nation protection agency of Lithuania the detailed answers (in Russian and English) to every question raised by the Lithuanian side regarding the construction of the nuclear power plant in Belarus, Director of the Department for Nuclear Energy of the Energy Ministry of Belarus Nikolai Grusha said in an online conference hosted by BelTA on 22 April.

He stated that, within the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo, 1991), the Environmental Impact Assessment report of the future Belarusian nuclear power plant was sent to the countries that showed interest in partaking in the debates on it. Lithuania was among them. On 2 March 2010 Vilnius hosted public debates on the document where the Lithuanian side spoke against the construction of the nuclear power plant at the Ostrovets site due its vicinity to the Lithuanian capital. The Belarusian side, in turn, informed the Lithuanian side that the site for the nuclear power plant was chosen on the basis of the engineering survey and research made on several alternative sites.

Keeping in mind the results of the public debates in Vilnius and consultations held in other countries as well as the discussions held in the labor collectives and civil organizations in Belarus, the EIA report was finalized and resent to the neighboring countries including Lithuania.