Unit 1 of the Belarus nuclear plant, a 1200MW Russian-designed VVER-1200 reactor, has completed a trial run of its turbine, the Ministry of Energy reported on 30 October.
"The first push of the turbine was carried out at a reactor power of 35%. The turbine was idled and the number of revolutions was gradually increased to the design values of 3000 rpm," the press service of the ministry said.
The communications department of the engineering division of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom reported that the unit was currently undergoing a step-by-step increase in turbine power up to 40%, and in the coming days, a series of tests would be carried out on equipment and technological systems. "After that, unit 1 will be connected to the grid and will begin to supply the first kilowatt-hours of electricity to the unified energy system of the Republic of Belarus," it said.
Construction of Belarus 1 began in November 2013 and Belarus 2 in April 2014. Start-up of Belarus 1 began on 7 August when the first nuclear fuel assembly was loaded into the reactor vessel. On 11 October, the reactor was brought to the minimum controlled power level (less than 1%). At that stage more than 50 measurements were carried out, which confirmed the compliance of the nuclear-physical characteristics of the reactor installation with the design parameters.
Belarus 1 is scheduled to begin operation in 2021 and unit 2 in 2022.
Photo: Trial turbine operation has been completed at Belarus nuclear power plant (Credit: Belarus Ministry of Energy)
