The launch date of the atomic power plant now built near Astravets may be put off for a year.
This delay may be due to the requirement of the Belarusian side to use a new reactor vessel instead of the one “scratched” on July 10, “Interfax” learned from an unnamed expert of the energy market.
The specialist believes that “Rosatom” may have to give Belarus the #2 reactor vessel of the Leningrad NPP-2, as it is now in “a greater degree of readiness.”
“Repair is not a problem, since there was a touch on the ground, several pipes are damaged. It could be restored directly on site. But now it is necessary to give up the reactor unit of the Leningrad NPP-2, it is in a large degree of readiness,” said the agency.
The body of the reactor costs 700-800 million rubles. Such cases are usually insured, but this case is unlikely to be covered by insurance as it is a direct fault of the general contractor ( “Atomstroyexport”) and the contractor (CJSC “Sezam”). Accordingly, it is their losses, the expert said.
On July 10, during a test installation of the reactor vessel, the 334-ton unit fell from a height of 2 to 4 meters. After a long silence, the Ministry of Energy of Belarus confirmed the rumors. The first deputy head of “Rosatom” Alexander Lokshin then assured the public that had been no serious damage but “simply factory paint wearing off.”
The current accident on the Belarusian NPP is the third one in recent years.
