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“At the end of the day, it is planned to connect to the grid and increase the reactor power to 50 percent, the turbo generator to 500 megawatts,” said Viktaras Karankevičius.
The minister said the reactor’s energy start-up phase was completed on Monday after its “planned shutdown.”
“All the tests were successful,” he said.
V. Karankevičius emphasized that subsequently Gosatomnadzor (Department of Nuclear and Radiological Protection of the Ministry of Emergencies of Belarus) will have to obtain permission to start the experimental industrial operation phase.
“In order to obtain a permit for this stage, the development of reactor power will be ensured from 50%. up to 100 percent. and turbo-generating capacity of up to 1,190 megawatts ”, explained the minister.
He clarified that the tests were also planned at this stage.
The Belarusian Energy Ministry announced on December 3 the “planned closure” of the first reactor at the Astrava nuclear power plant. It was then announced that the operation of the power plant systems would be tested before December 11.
The portal ecohome-ngo.by published a statement a few days earlier about the anti-nuclear campaign in Belarus that cooperates with the Astrava nuclear power plant on security issues. According to him, during the hydraulic tests of the first reactor, a serious accident occurred: the tank of the emergency cooling system was severely damaged.
The first reactor at the Astrava nuclear power plant, which was connected to the Belarusian power system on November 3 and closed on November 8, resumed operation after a one-and-a-half week hiatus on November 19.
The Belarusian media reported after the November 8 incident that several voltage transformers had exploded at the power plant and as a result the first turbine of the reactor had shut down. On November 19, the Belarusian news agency Belta confirmed to the country’s Energy Ministry that the first reactor was reconnected to the grid after the replacement of voltage transformers and other works.
The first nuclear power plant in Belarus under construction near the Lithuanian state will have two reactors from the Russian VVER project, each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts. The second reactor is expected to start up approximately one year after the start of the first reactor.
The project is financed by a loan from the Russian government; the power plant is being built by Rosatom Corporation.
The Astrava Nuclear Power Plant project has sparked a political conflict between Belarus and Lithuania, which has been actively criticizing the project for several years, views the power station as unsafe and urges the world community to pressure A. Lukashenko to stop your construction. Minsk rejects these Vilnius accusations.
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