Events

MINSK, 24 February (BelTA) – Belarus will present results of stress tests of the nuclear power plant before the European Commission, BelTA learned from Belarusian Energy Minister Vladimir Potupchik on 24 February.

The official said: “We received results of the stress tests in December. The nuclear power plant operating company is now processing them. They will be forwarded soon to the regulating agency — the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry. The documents will be used to prepare a national report that will be presented before the European Commission. In the near future Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk will travel to Luxembourg for negotiations on analyzing these stress tests with representatives of the European community.”

Results of the stress tests will also be revealed before the general public. “The stress tests were scheduled back in 2011. We have not deviated from our commitments and have done everything that was necessary, including within the framework of the decisions made during the meeting of the parties to the Espoo Convention,” stressed Vladimir Potupchik.

As part of the stress testing process the resilience of the Belarusian nuclear power plant and its ability to adapt to extreme external impacts were analyzed. The safety of the nuclear power plant during extreme situations was examined. Consequences of natural phenomena were theoretically predicted like various combinations of floods, extreme weather conditions, external impacts, and the loss of external power.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is built using the AES-2006 nuclear power plant design and will boast VVER-1200 type reactors. The construction site is located 18km away from Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The power plant will have two power-generating units with the total output capacity of up to 2,400MW (2x1,200MW). The first unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2019, with the second one to go online in 2020.