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Interior Troops unit expected to be formed with Russia's assistance for guarding nuclear power plant

An Interior Troops unit will be formed with the assistance of Russia for guarding Belarus' future nuclear power plant, Valery Haydukevich, commander of the Interior Troops, said in an interview posted on the interior ministry's website.

It is impossible to make too much of the Russian military's experience in guarding strategic sites, he said. The Interior Troops of Belarus and Russia currently plan to exchange delegations so that Belarus can borrow some of that experience, he said.

Mr. Haydukevich announced in December 2009 that a military unit to be deployed at the nuclear power plant would be formed in 2013.

By that time, the construction of the cantonment and the necessary infrastructure will begin, Mr. Haydukevich said, adding that the unit would be staffed by contract personnel.

The interior ministry, the Committee for State Security and other law-enforcement and security agencies will combine their efforts to ensure the security of the nuclear power plant, he said. The interior ministry's tasks will include escorting shipments, he added.

In July 2010, the interior ministry's newspaper Na Strazhe said that the new unit would appear in 2014.

The nuclear plant will be situated in the Astravets district, Hrodna region, some 10 miles from the Lithuanian border. Its two reactors are to have a generating capacity of up to 2,400 megawatts in total. The first unit of the plant is scheduled to be put into operation in 2017 and the other one in 2018.

Atomstroiexport, a subsidiary company of Russia's Nuclear Energy State Corporation (Rosatom), is to bear full responsibility for the project as the prime contractor. //BelaPAN