Opinions & Interviews

OSTROVETS, 23 August (BelTA) - Belarus has provided the answers to all questions from Lithuania regarding the nuclear power plant in Ostrovets, but this topic is being politicized by Lithuania, Belarus’ Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk told the media, BelTA has learned.

When speaking about the site for the construction and Lithuania’s complaints about it, the deputy minister said that Belarus carried out an unprecedentedly large amount of survey work on dozens of sites that could host the nuclear plant. In the end, the choice was made in favor of Ostrovets because no factor that could affect the safety of the future plant was detected.

“We gave the answers to all the questions from our neighbor, but the issue has grown into a political one,” Mikhail Mikhadyuk said. The deputy minister noted that Lithuania also intended to build a nuclear power plant and even considered the Russian design which it now complains about with regard to Belarus. “It is the policy of double standards," Mikhail Mikhadyuk said. “A customer buys something that is better in quality and cheaper. The same applies to electricity,” he noted.

Mikhail Mikhadyuk recalled that the nuclear power plant will make the Belarusian economy more competitive and reduce the country’s dependence on natural gas supplies. With the launch of the plant, Belarus will decrease the gas consumption by 5 billion cubic meters per year and will reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by 7-10 million tonnes annually.

Safety and reliability are the priorities for Belarus. The main feature of the VVER-1200 design is a unique combination of active and passive safety systems, which makes the plant resistant, to the maximum extent possible, to external and internal impacts.

When implementing the nuclear project Belarus cooperates closely with international organizations, including IAEA and regularly hosts its missions, with the World Association of Nuclear Operators, added Mikhail Mikhadyuk.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is a project to build a VVER-1200 type nuclear power plant 18km away from Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The BelNPP will have two power-generating units with the total output capacity of up to 2,400MW (2x1,200MW). The first power-generating unit will be commissioned in 2019, the second – in 2020.