Launch of a nuclear reactor in the second power unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant

“As part of the last stage of the physical start-up of the second power unit of BelNPP, a controlled fission chain reaction was successfully carried out in the reactor of the unit, the control systems recorded the appearance of first neutrons in the Telegram channel.

This historic step was preceded by a large number of construction, installation, commissioning and testing works. As assured by the Republican Ministry of Energy, these operations were carried out in compliance with all security requirements. And the progress of work on the second power plant and on the entire Belarusian nuclear power plant has been repeatedly checked by inspectors from the IAEA and WAO – the World Association of Nuclear Operators.

The next important step on the way to starting the second power unit is to increase the power plant power to 40% and above. As specified at the nuclear power plant itself, this will be combined with the first test of connecting the unit to the network and subsequent tests in different modes. If everything goes as planned, the second power plant of the Belarusian nuclear power plant should be put into commercial operation in October 2023 – this date was previously announced by the head of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic Viktor Karankevich.

Recall: The Belarusian nuclear power plant is located in the north of the Grodno region and is created according to the Russian standard project “NPP-2006” – two power units with a capacity of 1200 megawatts each. The first was commissioned in June 2021, it underwent scheduled preventive maintenance in 2022 and is now operating at nominal power.

To finance the construction of this nuclear power plant, a loan from the Russian State was requested, its initial amount was estimated at 10 billion dollars.