The Belarus council of ministers has ratified protocol amendments extending the warranty period beyond those in the original 2011 intergovernmental agreement with Russia for the construction of Belarus NPP in Ostravets. The extension was agreed in November 2023.
The two-year warranty period for the operation of the equipment established by the agreement can be extended for a longer period, according to the protocol. Certain equipment may have a longer warranty period. In addition, the agreement contains a provision that the procedure for setting the price of nuclear fuel and the terms of its supply were agreed by the Russian and Belarusian authorities.
The Belarus NPP at Ostravets in Grodno comprises two VVER-1200 power units based on the NPP-2006 project The 2011 intergovernmental agreement on the construction of the plant provides for cooperation in the design, construction and turnkey commissioning of the units. Russia supported the project with a $10bn to cover 90% of the overall cost. The plant was issued a permit for pilot industrial operation of unit 1 in December 2020. It was connected to the grid in March 2021 and began commercial operation the following month. It was the first VVER-1200 unit to begin operation outside of Russia. Unit 2 was commissioned in November 2023. The plant’s two units (total capacity 2,400 MWe) will be able to provide about 40% of the electricity needs of Belarus.
A working meeting was recently held in Minsk between Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev and the Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko at which the prospects for further cooperation were discussed.
“With the commissioning of the Belarusian NPP, our country gained a significant advantage and strengthened energy security.… we have formed a new sector of the economy, which has become a great impetus for the introduction of new technologies and new innovative solutions. With the completion of the construction of the Belarusian NPP, our relations with Rosatom not only did not slow down, but successfully develop in a number of areas,” said Golovchenko.
Alexey Likhachev noted that the Ostrovets plant is the newest, most efficient and safest station in Europe. “But we are not stopping there. We are considering about 40 projects in the non-nuclear sphere. A memorandum of understanding (as signed between the governments of Russia and Belarus in January strengthening strategic cooperation in the field of the peaceful uses of atomic energy and related high technologies. It provided for the implementation of joint projects in non-energy applications of nuclear technologies including nuclear medicine, digitalisation, additive technologies, environmental remediation and the management of radioactive waste. These included establish a multipurpose nuclear research reactor, a set of laboratories, a multipurpose irradiation centre and a nuclear medicine centre in Belarus.
