06.05.2020
Minsk, Belarus, 06 May 2020 - The first batch of low-enriched uranium nuclear fuel has been delivered to the construction site of Belarusian NPP. The Russian-made fuel assemblies are currently being prepared for unloading and inspection.
“The initial delivery of fresh nuclear fuel is a landmark event in the construction of any nuclear plant and is of particular importance to Belarus, as it marks the first event of its kind in the republic. I sincerely congratulate our Belarusian colleagues for this joint achievement. In fact, this is the moment when the countdown to the physical launch actually starts,” said Vitaliy Polyanin, vice president of ASE EC JSC (part of Rosatom Group) and director of the Belarusian NPP construction project. “We, alongside the customer (i.e. Belarusian NPP operator), Belarus’ Ministry of Emergency Situations, and Gosatomnadzor (Belarus’ nuclear watchdog), have done a tremendous amount of work to ensure the necessary conditions for fuel delivery, have putting pertinent facilities, systems, and equipment, including the unit’s emergency and physical protection installations, into operation to guarantee the delivery and safe storage of fresh nuclear fuel.”
The two-unit Belarusian NPP, with a total power capacity of 2,400 MW, is equipped with state-of-the-art, Russian-designed VVER-1200 reactors. This is the country’s first NPP; it is being built in the Belarusian town of Ostrovets and is based on a Russian 3+ generation design that fully complies with international standards and the safety recommendations of the IAEA.
Notes to the Editor:
About Rosatom
ROSATOM is the only company in the world to offer integrated clean energy solutions across the nuclear supply chain and beyond, including design, construction and operation of nuclear power stations, uranium mining, conversion and enrichment, supply of nuclear fuel, decommissioning, spent fuel storage and transportation and safe nuclear waste disposal. With 70 years’ continuous experience, the company is the world leader in high-performance solutions for all kinds of nuclear power plants. It also works in the segments of wind generation, nuclear medicine, and energy storage, among others.
Headquartered in Moscow, the company brings together over 300 enterprises and organizations and over 250,000 employees. Globally, the company has the second biggest uranium reserves and more than a third of the world’s enrichment market and is the world’s biggest builder of the latest generation nuclear power stations with a US$133 billion 10-year export order book.
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