BelNPP’s second power unit almost ready

Belarus’ Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich said at the BelTA press centre that readiness of the second power unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP) is estimated at 95 percent

According to Mr. Karankevich, works are now being carried out on it to fulfil the necessary conditions in order to receive a permit from the Department for Nuclear and Radiation Safety of the Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) to load nuclear fuel into the reactor core.

“It is planned that these works will be completed in the coming days. Commissioning of the second power unit is planned for 2022,” he said.

The Energy Minister noted that the station generates about 28 million kWh of electricity, accounting for 22 percent of the country’s total electricity production. In general, since the moment the first power unit was connected to the unified energy system, about 6 billion kWh of electricity have been transferred, enabling the country to replace 1.6 billion cubic metres of natural gas. This is 2.5 times more than the annual electricity consumption by the country’s petrochemical complex.