The structural frame of the would-be nuclear service collapsed in mid-April, a worker from a Pinsk-based organization that is taking part in the construction of the NPP in Astravets told belsat.eu.
The nuclear service building is to be erected between the two reactors. Being eager to meet the deadline, the people in charge hurried the workers who poured too much concrete for its foundation. As a result, the structural frame broke down and its components collapsed.
Over 20 workers were immediately called to the construction site, the source says. It took them two days to break the concrete with jackhammers.
According to the resident of Pinsk, it is not the first incident onsite, but no one was held accountable for it. There have not been any reports by state-run media either.
A concrete worker earns Br 4 mln ($200) a month; they are forced to work for 12 hours, the source claims.
Read also: Construction supervisors stealing cement, superiors stealing budget money – Astravets NPP builder
The NPP first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2018, the second one – in 2020. The construction of two nuclear reactors is provided in the agreement reached by Belarus and Russia, the reactors being supplied by Atomstroyexport, Russia. The project faced opposition at home and abroad on both safety and political grounds.
At the end of 2015, Lithuania’s Energy Minister Rokas Masiulis tried to talk neighboring countries out of purchasing energy from nuclear power stations that are being constructed in the Belarusian town of Astravets and Russia’s Kaliningrad region. “The energy being produced in violation of international regulation of nuclear safety, security and inter-state environmental impact assessment should not be accepted in the European Union, he said.
Read also: Waste from Astravets NPP to be stored in Belarus for 10 years
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