MOSCOW, 10 August (BelTA) – Rosatom will invite a European company to participate in the stress testing of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, BelTA has learned.
According to the statement released by Rosatom, a leading European organization specializing in the comprehensive analysis of safety parameters of nuclear power plants taking into account post-Fukushima requirements will be invited to participate in the stress testing of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. The relevant negotiations are underway.
Plans have been made to carry out stress tests at the Belarusian nuclear power plant using European methods and in compliance with IAEA standards by the end of the year.
Stress-testing the Belarusian nuclear power plant will be the design institute Atomproekt (Saint Petersburg, the nuclear power plant design's developer), the reactor unit developer OKB Gidropress, and the nuclear research center Kurchatov Institute.
Atomproekt will have to prepare an additional assessment of the Belarusian nuclear power plant's safety in the face of extreme external shocks in excess of the design parameters. The stress testing procedure will evaluate the Belarusian nuclear power plant's resilience to combinations of earthquakes, floods, extreme weather phenomena, and other kinds of external impact.
As a result of the stress-testing procedure additional recommendations concerning the Belarusian nuclear power plant's operation and ways to bolster its resilience to extreme external shocks will be given.
The Belarusian nuclear power plant is a project to build a VVER-1200 type nuclear power plant 18km away from Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The BelNPP will have two power-generating units with the total output capacity of up to 2,400MW (2x1,200MW).
