First Vice-President of the Russian company Atomstroyexport, the general contractor of the Belarusian nuclear plant construction, Alexander Dybov declared readiness to start the first NPP unit in 2017. "The schedule is agreed, the start-up, scheduled for 2017, remains a priority," he said, informing about the second unit's launch, scheduled for 2018.
Dybov Alexander said that despite the delays in signing contracts and agreeing on the NPP draft’s wording, preparation for its construction has been continued. «The work is underway, the Belarusian side has succeeded in this regard. Much was done during the preparatory period — virtually all,» said the representative of the Russian company, BelTA informs.
First vice-president of Atomstroyexport noted that there were no problems between Belarus and Russia on NPP construction, but «all the issues, we are now discussing, will be shortly resolved.»
Also, Alexander Dybov believes that Belarus needs nuclear power plants. «Crisis, post-crisis, pre-crisis — no matter what the period is, people need electricity, so does businesses,» he said.
Russia’s Already Drawn up Loan Repayment Schedule for Belarus’s NPP
«We have drawn up a schedule — for the interest and the years — we will hand it today to the Belarusian side,» said the representative of Atomstroyexport.
However, he did not say whether Russia would give Belarus a $9 billion loan, noting that «preliminary agreements were reached, but money like silence.» «We are working over the amount, Russia’s Finance Ministry has to decide, it has its own plans and budget,» said Alexander Dybov.
NAS Wants to Create Department for NPP Examination
In turn, the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus plans to create a structural unit to conduct an independent examination of the NPP safety, said Head of Department of Nuclear and Radiation Safety Emergency Vasili Poliukhovich at a scientific conference on the prospects for nuclear energy development in Minsk.
He reported that the division would bring together specialists in nuclear physics, chemistry and radiation safety to monitor the safety systems of nuclear power plants at all stages of its creation. In addition, the CEO of the Joint Institute for Energy and Nuclear Research «Sosni» of NAS of Belarus Viacheslav Kuvshinov said that Supercomputer Center, integrated into the European supercomputing network, worked at the institute in a test mode for the scientific establishment and operation of nuclear power plant. «We are getting ready for all the necessary calculations associated with nuclear power,» he said.
