Second power unit of BelNPP scheduled to be put into commercial operation by year-end - Belarusian Emergency Situations Ministry

MINSK. May 2 (Interfax) - The second power unit of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (BelNPP) is scheduled to be put into commercial operation by the end of the year, head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergency Situations Ministry Olga Lugovskaya said.

"As of now, the power unit is in the state of commissioning. Thus, a sequence of actions is being undertaken, when we are gradually approaching the loading of nuclear fuel. We have already loaded it. Thus, we have already passed the stage of physical start-up," Lugovskaya said on the STV state television channel on Sunday, adding that the permit for the power start-up of the power unit has already been issued.

"Right now we are at this very stage. By the end of the year, the power unit is expected to be put into commercial operation," she said.

Belarus is completing the construction of its NPP near the city of Ostrovets in the Grodno region in line with the Russian VVER-1200 project. It will consist of two 1.2 GW power units. The general contractor for construction of the NPP is ASE Group, a subsidiary of Rosatom. A Russian state loan of $10 billion was taken to fund the construction of the plant.