Name of the Project
Ostrovets nuclear power plant (NPP) project.

Location
Grodno, in Belarus.

Project Owner/s
Russian State nuclear corporation Rosatom.

Project Description
The project entails the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Belarus. It involves the construction of two 1 200 MW pressurised-water energetic reactors.

The plant will be fitted with cutting-edge accident-protection systems.

The so-called core melt trap will be installed at the power units. This is a unique Russian invention and confines melted products if the reactor core melts down. The nuclear power plant is expected to produce about 25% of the electricity that Belarus needs.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
$10-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
Preliminary construction work began at the site in April. The reactors are scheduled for commissioning in 2020 and 2021.

Unit 1 was connected in October 2020.

Latest Developments
The loading of 'dummy' fuel assemblies at unit 2 of the NPP started on March 7, 2021.

"This process is a prerequisite and, in a way, a dress rehearsal for the loading of nuclear fuel into the reactor," Rosatom has said.

This process also includes the development of transport and technological operations to move the simulators of heat-emitting assemblies (ITVS) from a special fresh fuel storage facility to the reactor building, and confirmation of the unit's readiness for fuel loading.

"The simulators are an exact copy of fuel assemblies in terms of weight, size and materials, but they do not contain nuclear fuel," Belarus NPP construction project director and VP of Rosatom subsidiary ASE Vitaly Polyanin has said. "They are intended for use during commissioning at the stage of cold-hot testing of the reactor."

Once all 163 the ITVS have been loaded, assembly of the reactor will be completed and then, on receipt of the relevant permits, hydraulic tests will begin. This stage "opens a huge cycle of mandatory and strictly regulated technologically complex processes carried out during the preparation of the power unit for physical startup", Polyanin has said.

The European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (Ensreg) has approved the preliminary report on a peer review of the new Belarusian plant. Adopted by consensus on  March 3, the report follows a mission by Ensreg technical experts to the plant site on February 9 and 10.

Unit 1 was connected to the grid in November 2020.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Atomstroyexport (nuclear reactors), Rosatom Engineering Division (general designer and contractor).

Contact Details for Project Information
Rosatom communications department, tel +7 499 949 4412, fax +7 499 949 2722 or email press@rosatom.ru.