Soon after the completion of the first Russian-built Astravets Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Belarus, the Russian energy ministry announced that there were plans in the works to construct a second reactor at the Belarus Nuclear Plant. The second reactor is expected to be completed by mid-2022 according to the First Deputy Director General for Operational Management of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Alexander Lokshin. It is expected to double NPP’s total output capacity to 2,400 megawatts (MW). The current reactor is a VVER-1200 reactor at the Belarus Nuclear Plant that was built using the Russian AES-2006 design. The same design will be used for the second reactor. The Russian state financed the plant with a state loan of up to US$10 billion to be paid over the span of 25 years. The plant will be constructed by Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned Rosatom.
Also Read:France begins construction of world’s largest nuclear fusion project.
The Belarusian NPP Unit 1 was the first unit of the newest Gen 3+ built using Russian technologies and is used outside the Russian state. At the moment, there are three power units of this type, which are successfully operated in Russia – two at the Novovoronezh NPP and one at the Leningrad NPP.
