State TG channel writes that Lukashenka examined the territory of the station from a helicopter.
He called the launch of the Belarusian nuclear power plant a historic event in the life of the country.
“Everything is as casual as if the metro was built. It is a historical moment — the country is becoming a nuclear power,” Belta quoted Lukashenka as saying.
In Astravets, Lukashenka visited the training center of the BelNPP, where he was told about the work on commissioning the station and its integration into the country’s economy, the prospects for cooperation between the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom and Belarus in the field of nuclear energy, the pro-government media write.
He also familiarize himself with the facilities of the station, including visiting the building of the office of the first power unit, where, as planned, he gave permission to increase the electrical capacity of the power unit (up to 400 MW) in accordance with the milestone program.
- Despite the commissioning of the Astravets NPP, claims against it have not disappeared. The Lithuanian parliament even declared the station a “threat to national security.” In response to the production of the first kilowatt-hours in Astravets, Lithuania stopped trading in electricity with Belarus. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda believes that the NPP threatens not only Lithuania, but the entire European Union. Lithuania’s position on the Belarusian NPP is supported by Poland and Ukraine.
- Commissioning of the station was postponed several times. The facility was planned to be opened even before the presidential elections. However, as a result, the loading of nuclear fuel into the reactor of the first power unit of the Astravets NPP began on August 7, and on November 3 the station began producing the first kilowatt-hours and became part of the country’s energy system.
- The NPP is just getting started, but it is expected that the commercial use of the first power unit will take place in early 2021. The second block will be connected in 2022.
- The Astravets NPP is the first nuclear power plant of generation III +, created according to Russian technologies outside of Russia. At the moment, in Russia itself, there are 3 such power units: 2 at the Novovoronezh NPP and 1 at the Leningrad NPP.
