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Belarus` nuclear power plant will not use experimental reactor, official says

Belarus` future nuclear power plant will not use an experimental reactor, Alyaksandr Andreyew, a departmental head at the ministry of natural resources and environmental protection, said on Tuesday during a question-and-answer session on the website of the Belarusian-Russian Union State, BelaPAN said.

The plant will have a reactor designed by Russia`s Nuclear Energy State Corporation (Rosatom), a similar to one already in operation at a nuclear power plant in China, Mr. Andreyew said, noting that such reactors were also being built in Bulgaria and Russia`s exclave province of Kaliningrad.

Consultations have been held with neighboring Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, as well as Austria to discuss the Belarusian government`s assessment of the environmental impact of the nuclear power plant, he said. Experts representing the countries were "quite satisfied" with the report, he noted.

Mr. Andreyew said that representatives of Rostatom had visited Belarus several times to issue recommendations regarding the project.

Delegations of the International Atomic Energy Agency have visited Belarus twice, expressing a favorable opinion about the nuclear project and praising the Belarusian authorities for doing much to develop the necessary legal basis and train the plant`s personnel, the official said.

Belarus decided to build the facility because it does not generate enough electricity domestically and because the prices of Russian natural gas imports are rising, Mr. Andreyew said. The construction of the nuclear plant is the only way out for the country, as nuclear power is the cheapest energy as far as production costs are concerned, he said.

In March, the Lithuanian foreign ministry issued a note of protest over Belarusian Deputy Economy Minister Mikhail Mikhadzyuk`s claim that Lithuania had made no objections to the Belarusian government`s report on the environmental impact of its nuclear power plant project.

The governments of several other countries, including Austria and Germany, have expressed concern about the project and questioned the environmental impact report.

The nuclear power plant, which is to have a generating capacity of around 2,400 megawatts, is to be built in the Hrodna region near the Lithuanian border. The first unit of the plant is scheduled to be put into operation in 2017 and the other one in 2018.