Power Structures

''Please read Power Structure Research first. This this site tries to visualize nuclear power structures per country. The focus is on people of political and economic elites like  lobbyists and  decision makers.''

Belarus
"In mid 2006 the government approved a plan for the construction of an initial 2000 MWe PWR nuclear power plant in the in the Mogilev region of eastern Belarus. This was expected to provide electricity at half the cost of that from Russian gas (5 billion cubic metres per year for same capacity) and to provide some 30% of the electricity by 2020 at a cost of about EUR 4 billion (January 2008 estimate) on a turnkey basis.

After expressions of interest from international reactor vendors were invited, the energy ministry announced in August 2008 that proposals had been received from Atomstroyexport, Westinghouse-Toshiba and Areva. Anything from USA would need several years for an intergovernmental agreement, and Areva's EPR was noted as being too big for the first plant. In addition, the energy ministry received a proposal from the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation. Russia's Atomstroyexport emerged as the most likely supplier for the 2 x 1000 MWe plant since the others either did not provide all the information required or could not build the plant soon enough. Operation of the first unit was envisaged for 2016 and the second in 2018. Two further units are proposed for operation by 2025. In June 2007 Russia's Eximbank offered a US$ 2 billion credit line to enable purchase of equipment from Russia's Power Machines company as a major part of the overall cost.

In November 2007 a presidential decree defined the organizations responsible for preparing for the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant and budgeted money for engineering and site selection. The candidate sites were Krasnopolyansk and Kukshinovsk (both in the Mogilev region) and Ostrovets in the Grodno region. Ostrovets/ Astravets, 23 km from the Lithuanian border and 55 km from Vilnius, was chosen in December 2008, despite protests from Lithuania. Ownership of the plant could be partly or wholly private, and the Bulgarian precedent was being watched with interest (or despair).

The decree also aims to ensure that nuclear and radiation safety is in line with the recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). A Directorate for Construction of Nuclear Power Plants was established under the Ministry of Energy. A Nuclear & Radiation Safety Department will also be set up as part of the Emergencies Ministry to act as the state nuclear regulator and licensing authority. The state-run Belnipienergoprom enterprise was designated as the general designer of the plant and will be responsible for negotiating and signing contracts, carrying out feasibility studies and preparing tender documents.

In June 2009 the government announced that Atomstroyexport would be the general contractor, with Russian and Belarus subcontractors, notably St Petersburg Atomenergoproekt. An intergovernmental agreement concerning the plant was signed in March 2011. A preliminary turnkey construction contract with Atomstroyexport for a 2400 MWe plant (2 x 1200 MWe AES-2006 units using V-491 reactors) was signed in October 2011 by Belarus state-owned Nuclear Power Plant Construction Directorate, and a general construction contract was initialled in May 2012, then signed in July. St Petersburg AEP is reported to have been involved with the project since 2004, including site selection and technology choice."

"In May 2009 the government approved a nuclear cooperation agreement with China, which includes nuclear power, joint development of innovative reactor technologies, nuclear safety, radiation protection and environmental protection as well as radiation technologies and their applications, nuclear medicine and radiation therapy. It creates a legal basis for Chinese participation in nuclear power plant and related construction in Belarus. It follows both a 2008 proposal from China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (CGNPC) and a 2005 cooperation agreement. Early in 2010 official announcements said that the President had proposed to cooperate with China in nuclear power, including the construction of a power plant, although Chinese official sources did not confirm this.  In July 2012 the North China Power Engineering Co Ltd (NCPE) won a contract from Grodnoenergo to build a 330 kV transmission line to connect Ostrovets power plant to the grid. This would be financed by China Exim Bank.

In August 2102 the government said that there were no specific plans for a second nuclear power plant but the question remained on the agenda. A decision on it will be made once the first is operational, and in the light of costs and energy options then.

A VVER-1000 unit was earlier being built near Minsk but construction was abandoned in 1988 after the Chernobyl accident. Public Opinion

Public opinion monitoring conducted by the Ministry of Energy jointly with the National Academy of Sciences shows a sustainable growth of support to nuclear power over the period September 2005 to May 2012. The number of nuclear power supporters increased from 28.3% to 53.5% over that period, while the number of opponents decreased from 46.7% to 21%. Slight fluctuations were observed in 2012 after the accident at Fukushima-Daiichi, which triggered “a new outburst of anxiety.” An important result of the studies is the fact that they “unambiguously recorded” positive shifts in public attitude to “calm and reasoned perception”, despite the fact that Belarus was very affected by fallout from the Chernobyl accident, with resultant evacuations. Non-proliferation

Belarus joined the NPT in 1995, and in 2005 signed the additional protocol to its safeguards agreement with IAEA."

Plans for nuclear capacity
 * Belarus plans to have its first nuclear power plant operating from 2018, with Russian finance.
 * Atomstroyexport has contracted to build the 2400 MWe plant.
 * Belarus produces only 32 billion kWh/yr from 8 GWe of plant, mostly gas-fired, giving per capita consumption of 3330 kWh/yr. Government plans to reform the electricity sector by creating a wholesale market in three stages have stalled, and electricity remains heavily subsidised for households.
 * Under its 2011-2020 energy strategy, Belarus is seeking to reduce its reliance on Russia as a major energy supplier. The plan calls for a 1000 MWe coal-fired plant and a 2400 MWe nuclear power plant as well as four hydropower stations with total capacity of 120 MW, and wind projects totaling 300 MW. If fully implemented, the strategy would bring the share of power generated using Russian gas down to 55% by 2020, from over 80% in 2009. Gas demand should decrease by one third.
 * The country imports 90% of its gas from Russia (estimate of 22.5 billion m3 in 2012) - much of it for electricity, and overall aims for 25-30% energy independence, compared with half that now. The proposed 2400 MWe nuclear plant is expected to reduce gas imports by 5 billion m3 per year, now costing over US$ 800 million, while the fuel and waste management for it would be a quarter of this. In November 2011 it was agreed that Russia's Gazprom would pay $2.5 billion for the 50% of Belarus' gas transmission network, Beltransgaz, that it did not already own. This was linked both to lower gas prices and to Russian finance for the nuclear plant. Earlier, there had been studies on both a domestic nuclear power plant using Russian technology, and Belarus participation in a new nuclear unit at Smolensk or Kursk in Russia.


 * Belarus used INPRO’s Nuclear Energy Systems Assessment methodology covering economics, infrastructure, waste management, proliferation resistance, physical protection, environment, and safety to confirm its investment decision. The results showed that nuclear would be competitive, with overnight costs US$1960/kW and levelized electricity price 5.81 cent/kWh (compared with coal $1175/kW and 6.52 cent/kWh, and gas $805/kW and 6.76 cent/kWh). The basic overnight cost of the two units was put at $ 6.135 billion.


 * Chernobyl radiation map
 * Mayak
 * Mayor of Fukushima-devastated town: Say no to nuclear energy

Publications

 * October 17 CEO of Lithuanian Energy: Visaginas NPP project can be improved
 * 17.10.2013 There is a potential to improve conditions for Visaginas NPP
 * 17 October 2013 Fennovoima made a report on the safety of the NPP planned to be built by ROSATOM (State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM)
 * 2013-03-15 Baltics Solve Dispute Over Cross-Border Power Flows in Nord Pool
 * Visaginas Technology Assessment About the Project (VAE)

Companies
This should be incorporated to Nuclear Companies
 * Lietuvos Energija is the main power company in Lithuania. It owns (through 95.54% stake in company Lietuvos Elektrinė) the largest power plant in Lithuania Elektrėnai Power Plant and directly owns two largest hydroelectric plants in the country (Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant and Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant). It has also stake in the Klaipėda Geothermal Demonstration Plant. The company's headquarters is located in Elektrėnai. Its predecessor, the Lithuanian Power Company, was a wholly state-owned enterprise that owned and operated all electrical and heating businesses in Lithuania apart from Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. Privatization took place in 1997, when 86.5% of the shares went to the government, 8.5% to its workers, and 5% to the Swedish company Vattenfall. (WP)
 * Litgrid is a transmission system operator in Lithuania. Since 2010 Litgrid has been listed on the NASDAQ OMX Vilnius stock market.  Litgrid is a partner in NordBalt and LitPol Link projects. Litgrid employs 221 persons. (WP)

Russia

 * Representatives of 12 EU member states, namely Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Spain, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, the Netherlands, France and Czechoslovakia have confirmed their plans to promote nuclear energy.

Director General of the Russian state corporation for nuclear energy Rosatom Sergei Kiriyenko has recently visited the construction site. He praised the high quality of works and said that Belarusian construction workers might get licenses to build nuclear power plants in Russia.
 * Director of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Energy Ministry of the Republic of Belarus Nikolai Grusha
 * Advisor to the Executive Vice-President of Rusatom Overseas Sergei Boyarkin

Even Japan announced its decision to consider resuming the nuclear power program two years after the Fukushima accident. What is Belarus’ strategy for developing nuclear energy? What are the advantages of the Russian NPP design? How will the Belarusian NPP be protected from external emergencies? Is there any connection between the NPP and greenhouse effect? These and other questions will be answered by Nikolai Grusha and Sergei Boyarkin during the online conference.

Belarus launched its own nuclear program not so long ago; however the IAEA experts believe that our country can be called one of the most advanced newcomers. The quality of preparation works on the Ostrovets site was hailed by Russian and international experts. As early as the summer of 2013 the concrete will be poured