Business news

VIENNA, 20 September (BelTA) – About 70 highly trained and experienced specialists of the nuclear power facilities of Russia and Ukraine have been employed to work at the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP), Director General of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant Mikhail Filimonov told BelTA on the sidelines of the 61^st General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.

“There is a personnel recruitment plan. We have already employed about 70 highly trained specialists. They are sharing their experience with Belarusian counterparts,” said Mikhail Filimonov.

In line with the plan of training personnel under the nuclear energy program, Belarusian specialists are undergoing training in Russia – the institutes in Ivanovo and Obninsk. Courses to train specialists for nuclear power plants have been launched at the Belarusian National Technical University. Specialists are also trained at the training center in Ostrovets.

The personnel interaction is drilled during special training sessions. Mechanisms of cooperation in emergencies with the Emergencies Ministry, other ministries and agencies will be drilled during exercises in October. According to Mikhail Filimonov, such events preceding the launch of the plant are a routine practice supported by the IAEA.

The main equipment for the plant has already been installed. The reactor shell for the second energy unit will be delivered from Russia in the coming days. “We can say that the construction site in Ostrovets currently sees the culmination of building and assembly works, 75% of which are performed by Belarusian specialists,” Mikhail Filimonov said.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is a project to build a new-generation nuclear power plant with two VVER-1200 type reactors (1,200MW each) 18km away from Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2019, with the second one to go online in 2020.