Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant: Chronicle of Construction
The construction of the large-scale energy facility in Ostrovets District, Grodno Oblast, continues. A capsule with a message to future generations was buried at the site of the first Belarusian nuclear power plant in August 2012. In November 2013, after the completion of the responsible stage of preparatory works, the construction work began on the first unit, and in April 2014 on the second one.
Day by day the future nuclear power plant acquires the shape of the 3D-model station and the images which have been posted, together with the complete information, on the BelNPP website and the website of the special Internet project "Nuclear energy in Belarus and Worldwide". Besides, there are the information centers in Ostrovets and Minsk that provide extensive information on the operation of a modern nuclear power plant, a radioactive waste management strategy, a security system, and training of NPP specialists. Belarus has been closely cooperating with the IAEA in the implementation of its national nuclear power program and the construction of its first nuclear power plant.
Belarus is building the 3+ generation nuclear power plant according to the Russian-design AES-2006. The plant will consist of two power generating units with the total output capacity of up to 2,400MW (2x1,194MW).
The construction work of the plant and its auxiliary facilities is on schedule, of high quality and meeting safety standards. Thanks to their special design and thickness of the walls, the power-generating units of the BelNPP will withstand all possible emergencies and natural disasters, including a hypothetical plane crash.
As many as 68,400 tonnes of reinforcement and 456,300 cubic meters of concrete have already been used since the beginning of the construction of the BelNPP. Today around 4,500 people are involved in the construction project. 85% of work is done by Belarusian specialists. In summer, the workers are joined by students as Belarus' NPP facilities has been awarded the All-Belarusian Youth Construction Site status.
According to the plans, a research and training center will open near the BelNPP by the end of 2015. The center will be a replica of the plant, and its equipment will be identical to that of the future BelNPP. A reactor vessel from Russia’s Volgodonsk will be delivered to the construction site already in 2015.
The first power-generating unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant is scheduled for commissioning in 2018. The second one is to go online in 2020.
The photo chronicle of building the most important facility in the history of the Belarusian energy industry features all stages of the construction in recent years.
