Ostrovets NPP

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Abstract: After parliament's agreement with Moscow in 2011, illegal construction started for Belarus Ostrovets NPP to start nuclear energy production in 2017.

Further information resources

• Status of proposed nuclear plants in the Baltic Sea region as of August 29, 2012:
  • Ostrovets 1:
    • proposed construction start: 2013
    • proposed operation begin: 2017
  • Ostrovets 2:
    • proposed construction start: 2014
    • proposed operation begin: 2018

News

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16.10.2013 Air and soil samples taken near Belarus’ NPP

MINSK, 16 October (BelTA) – Representatives of Belarusian environmental organizations and the National Center for Radiation Control and Environmental Monitoring of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection examined a number of facilities located near the Belarusian nuclear power plant construction site in Ostrovets on 16 October, BelTA learnt from the Belarusian public association Environmental Initiative.

The activists selected soil and air samples to be tested for Caesium-137 and Strontium-90 and measured gamma-radiation in Ostrovets, in particular in the central public garden, and two neighborhoods. They also took water samples from a well used by local residents.

Chairman of the Environmental Initiative association Yuri Solovyov said that the National Center for Radiation Control and Environmental Monitoring took 15 soil samples, two water samples and two air samples. The results of the tests will be ready by mid-November. They will be presented to the public via mass media and discussed at roundtable sessions and seminars.

Yuri Solovyov noted that the data that will be obtained during the tests will allow exercising public control over the environmental safety of the NPP and will become the basis for an independent monitoring of the impact of the nuclear power plant on the environment and human health. “The results of the tests will become a kind of benchmark that will be used to monitor the changes in the environment near the nuclear power plant after the facility is commissioned,” the environmentalist said.

The research is part of the project to conduct public monitoring of the environmental impact of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. The project was initiated by a number of Belarusian environmental organizations. On 14-18 October environmentalists are taking samples of soil, air and water in Ostrovets and the villages of Gozy and Trokeniki, Ostrovets District, and on the NPP construction site.

15.10.2013 Public monitoring of environmental impact of Belarus’ NPP kicks off in Belarus

Belarus has launched a project to conduct public monitoring of the environmental impact of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (NPP), BelTA learnt from the Belarusian public association Environmental Initiative.

“The public monitoring project was initiated by a number of Belarusian environmental organizations with a view to compiling a database and raising awareness of the people of Belarus and other countries about the background radiation and the environmental impact of the Belarusian nuclear power plant,” Chairman of the association Yuri Solovyov explained.

On 14-18 October volunteers of not-for-profit organizations together with specialists of the National Center for Radiation Control and Environmental Monitoring of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection are testing soil, air and water in the area of the Ostrovets NPP.

They will select and test the soil and air samples for Caesium-137 and Strontium-90 and measure gamma-radiation in Ostrovets and the villages of Gozy and Trokeniki, Ostrovets District, and on the NPP construction site.

Yuri Solovyov noted that the data that will be obtained during the tests will allow exercising public control over the environmental safety of the NPP and will become the basis for an independent monitoring of the impact of the nuclear power plant on the environment and human health.

Talks are in progress about participation of Lithuanian, Russian and Ukrainian environmental NGOs in the project.

The information about the results of the public monitoring will be distributed using mass media and discussed at roundtable sessions and seminars that are to be held during the project implementation. A seminar to discuss the results of the project is to be arranged in Lithuania.

16 October Environment near Ostrovets NPP to be monitored

Ekaterina Shibko: The environment in the area will be monitored on a regular basis and the results will be informed to the residents of Belarus and other countries.

Yuri Soloviev, the chair of the community association "Environmental Initiative": "A similar project has been implemented in Finland and we are willingly accept the experience of our Finnish colleagues".

Yury Bugrob, engineer at the National Center of Radiation Control and Environmental Monitoring: "It takes two weeks to detect cesium and a month to detect strontium".

Vladimir Samsonov, Deputy Head of the National Center of Radiation Control and Environmental Monitoring: "We already control the situation in the regions of Ignalinsky, Rovno and Smolensk and NPPs".

The results of monitoring will be officially presented to the neighboring countries and representatives of community organizations.

02.10.2013 Belarus government approves nuclear station design documents

The Belarus government has approved the design documents of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. The decision is laid down by Council of Ministers resolution No. 857 of 30 September 2013, the press service of the Belarus government told BelTA. In line with the document the Belarusian nuclear power plant will have two power-generating units with the installed nominal capacity of 1,194MW each. The total capacity of the power plant will be 2,388MW, the operating life will be 50 years, and the average annual electricity output in basic operation mode will be 17,095.1 million kWh.

The resolution has also approved the architectural design of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (the list of expenses) with the preliminary estimated cost at RUB44.582 billion in year 2001 prices, Br2.9 trillion in year 2006 prices, or $340.86 million.

In line with the resolution the money will be spent on building installations of the nuclear power plant, a manufacturing base of the nuclear power plant, a united pioneering manufacturing base, a 110/10kV substation Viliya, a railway line, and an automobile road from the R-45 (Goza) motorway that will pass via the nuclear power plant and Ostrovets. The money will be also spent on building a bypass road around the town of Ostrovets that will be connected with the M7 motorway Minsk - Oshmyany – the Lithuanian border. In line with the resolution the money will be spent on performing design and exploration work and on-site designer supervision for off-site utilities, housing, social and cultural objects, for building power lines and links to the national power grid.

The resolution comes into force on the publication date.

Oct 2013 Emerging Nuclear Energy Countries

Belarus Most of Belarus electricity production is from gas. The country imports 90% of its gas from Russia - much of it for electricity, and overall aims for 25-30% energy independence, compared with half that now. There have been studies on both a domestic plant using Russian technology, and Belarus participation in a new nuclear unit at Smolensk or Kursk in Russia.

Plans to build a new coal-fired plant were shelved in 2005 because no coal supply could be found, but a 600 MWe coal-fired plant is now under consideration.

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.

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 decree also aims to ensure that nuclear and radiation safety is in line with the recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In June 2009 the government announced that US$ 9 billion Russian financing had been lined up, and that Atomstroyexport would be the general contractor, with Russian and Belarus subcontractors, notably St Petersburg AEP. Intergovernmental agreements and then a turnkey construction contract with Atomstroyexport for a 2400 MWe plant (2 x 1200 MWe AES-2006 units) are expected to be signed in 2011. Operation of the Ostrovets /Astravets plant was scheduled for 2017 and 2018. Site works were due to start in September 2011.

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

See also Belarus paper for more up to date information.

10 June 2013 General Information about the Construction of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant

Specifications of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant

Belarusian nuclear power plant will consist of two units with total capacity of up to 2400 (2x1200) MW.

Location - Ostrovets site in Grodno region.

The Russian project "NPP-2006" with pressurized water reactors (PWR) of the third generation was chosen for the Belarusian NPP. Generation 3 rectors are advanced reactors with increased safety and reliability. The project meets the latest international standards for nuclear and radiation safety.

The main technical and economic characteristics of the NPP-2006:

   specified power capacity - 1,200 MW (e);
   number of units - 2;
   service life of a unit - 50 years;
   efficiency (net) - 33.9%;
   energy consumption for internal needs - no more than 7.48% of the nominal power.

The peculiarity of the NPP-2006 is a new reactor system with additional security systems, namely:

   passive heat removal system;
   the system of dump and clean up of the shell environment;
   double protective containment;
   molten fuel trap in the event of an unpredictable accident.

The same project is being used in the Russian Federation for the construction of the Baltic NPP, Novovoronezh NPP-2 and Leningrad NPP-2. An analogous Tianwan NPP is already in operation in China. It was recognized by the IAEA experts as one of the best in the world in safety parameters.

Chronology of the major decisions and contracts related to the construction of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant

September 2007 – adoption of the Energy Security Concept of the Republic of Belarus, providing the inclusion of nuclear fuel on the energy balance of the republic and the construction of a nuclear power plant. Initiation of the development of the system of State regulation in the sphere of nuclear safety.

November 12, 2007 – Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus №565 "On Some Measures for the Construction of a Nuclear Power Plant." Identified: the customer to implement the preparatory and development works, the general designer for the coordination of the design and construction documents for the construction of the nuclear power plant as well as the State authority responsible for ensuring nuclear and radiation safety.

December 27, 2007 – Order of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus №165r, appointing the State Commission for determining the site for the construction of the nuclear power plant in Belarus.

July 30, 2008 – The Law of the Republic of Belarus №426-W "On the use of nuclear energy". Together with the Law of the Republic of Belarus of January 5, 1998 № 122-3 «On radiation safety of the population" forms the legal basis for the development of nuclear and radiation safety in the Republic of Belarus.

December 20, 2008 – Act of the State Commission on the selection of the location for the Belarusian nuclear power plant. Ostrovets site in Grodno region was defined as major (preferential).

January 31, 2008 – Resolution of the Security Council of the Republic of Belarus №1. It was decided to construct a nuclear power plant in the Republic of Belarus with total capacity of 2,000 MW. The commissioning of the first power unit was scheduled for 2016 and the second - for 2018.

September 15, 2011 – Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus №418 "On the placement and design of the nuclear power plant in the Republic of Belarus", according to which Ostrovets site in Grodno region was defined as the location for the construction of the NPP.

October 11, 2011 – the contract for the construction of power unit 1 and 2 of the Belarusian NPP between "Atomstroyexport" (Russian Federation) and the State Enterprise " Directorate for Nuclear Power Plant Construction."

July 18, 2012 – General contract for the construction of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant between the corporation "Nizhny Novgorod Engineering Company" ATOMENERGOPROEKT (under the supervision of "Atomstroyexport") and the State Enterprise " Directorate for Nuclear Power Plant Construction".

The main participants

State Enterprise “Directorate for Nuclear Power Plant Construction” (http://www.dsae.by/en) is the customer of preparatory, design and survey works on the construction of the nuclear power plant.

Belarusian Research and Development Institute of Power Industry “Belnipienergoprom” (http://belnipi.ru/) is the general designer coordinating the design and construction documents for the construction of the nuclear power plant.

Russian Federation Nuclear Power Equipment and Service Export Company “Atomstroyexport” (http://www.atomstroyexport.ru/wps/wcm/connect/ase/eng/) – the general contractor for the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant.

Joint Institute for Power and Nuclear Research – “Sosny” of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (http://sosny.bas-net.by/) performs scientific support of the work on the construction of the nuclear power plant.

The Ministry for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus (http://rescue01.gov.by/) is responsible for the organization and implementation of State administration in the sphere of nuclear and radiation safety. To execute State surveillance over nuclear and radiation safety the Ministry founded the Department for Nuclear and Radiation Safety.

Additional information. A selection of news and other reports concerning the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant is available in the special section of the Belarusian Telegraph Agency web-site. Category: Safety of Belarusian NPP

30.05.2013 Baltic NPP debacle: Construction reported halted, possibly mothballed

• 31. 05.2013 Russian Baltic nuclear power plant debacle- Shut down for good?

   ….Rosatom’s search in the past three years for partners in Europe has failed to deliver either future energy buyers or potential shareholders willing to pledge funds to the project – a first in which the Russian nuclear industry has made 49% equity available to a foreign investor…. 

Baltic NPP debacle: Construction reported halted, possibly mothballed

A KLT-40C reactor plant. Afrikantov OKBM has developed these 40-megawatt reactors for use on board of floating nuclear power plants. Rosatom now considers operating one at the site of the beleaguered Baltic NPP project – a baffling idea that will likely relegate the currently 2,300-megawatt design, and possibly the entire construction, to the annals of failed projects of the nuclear industry

Source: okbm.nnov.ru

19 April 2013 Nuclear Power in Belarus

• 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. Plans for nuclear capacity

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.

Operation of the first unit of the Ostrovets plant is scheduled for November 2018 and the second unit in July 2020, to give 2340 MWe net on line. 

 In December 2011 the Nuclear Power Engineering Department of the Energy Ministry submitted an application for a construction license to state nuclear regulator Gosatomnadzor. During 2012 some site works were under way, and excavation for the second unit started in February 2013.

Planned Belarus Nuclear Power Reactors

Reactor	MWe gross	start construction	commercial operation
Ostrovets 1	VVER-1200/491	1200	June 2013	early 2019
Ostrovets 2	VVER-1200/491	1200	early 2014	late 2020

Two further units are proposed for about five years later.

In June 2009 the government announced that US$ 9 billion Russian financing had been lined up, and in August 2009, agreement on financing from 2010 was confirmed. "Active negotiations" continued, since Belarus wanted the Russian loan to include provision for infrastructure. Belarus official cost estimate including infrastructure is US$ 9.4 billion, with one third of this to be spent 2011-15. In November 2011 it was agreed that Russia would lend up to $10 billion for 25 years to finance 90% of the contract between Atomstroyexport and the Belarus Directorate for Nuclear Power Plant Construction. In February 2012 Russian state-owned Vnesheconombank (VEB) and Belarusian commercial bank Belvnesheconombank signed an agreement needed to implement the Russian export credit facility. In May 2012 the parties confirmed that the first installment under the design contract would be $204 million, and that this would be followed by $285 million for pre-construction site works. In April 2013 Atomenergomash (AEM) won the tender to supply the two reactors, which will be manufactured by AEM-Technologies at the Atommash plant at Volgodonsk.

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.

Russia's policy for building nuclear power plants in non-nuclear weapons states is to deliver on a turnkey basis, including supply of all fuel and repatriation of used fuel for the life of the plant. The fuel is to be reprocessed in Russia and the separated wastes returned to the client country eventually.

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.

19 April 2013 AtomEnergoMash reactors for Ostrovets

Russia's AtomEnergoMash (AEM) will supply the reactor pressure vessels, reactor internals, and core catchers for two VVER-1200 units that are to be built as part of Belarus's first nuclear power plant at Ostrovets.

In total AEM noted that it will supply approximately 4000 tonnes worth of components that will be manufactured at its Atommash plant in Volgodonsk and delivered to the Ostrovets site over the period 2013-7. The internal equipment includes upper blocks, reactor shafts and reflection shields.

A $10 billion turnkey contract was finalised between Belarus and Russian state nuclear enterprise Rosatom in July 2012 for the supply of two Gidropress-designed AES-2006 model VVER-1200 pressurized water reactors. The main construction contract, however, was awarded to AtomStroyExport (ASE) back in October 2011 and site works are already underway, although first concrete has yet to be poured. Unit 1 is currently slated to begin operation in 2018 while unit 2 is due to follow in 2020.

Rosatom has described the AES-2006 as its 'reference' design due to its deployment in China at Tianwan and current construction in Russia at Novovoronezh Phase II, Leningrad Phase II - as well as at the Baltic site in Kaliningrad. AEM noted that it has completed core catchers for the Novovoronezh and Baltic units, and is currently in the process of manufacturing further reactor components for the Baltic plant.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

03.11.2011 Minsk’s cooperation agreement with Moscow on building Ostrovets NPP ratified in closed-door parliament hearing

October 20th 2011 the Belarussian parliament ratified a cooperation agreement with Moscow on building the Ostrovets NPP called “agreement on cooperation in the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant.” The agreement is yet to be ratified, but is applied “provisionally”. Belarus violates a number of laws by signing and ratifying NPP cooperation agreement, lawyers say

Belarus is a signatory to two international ecological treaties that have a direct bearing on the development of such projects as the nuclear power plant in Ostrovets – the 1991 Espoo Convention on the Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, signed in the Danish city of Aarhus in 1998.

Critics of the future NPP – both among environmental organisations in neighbouring countries and at government level in Lithuania, which has repeatedly voiced its concern over the plans to build the site in such close proximity to its border – have pointed out a number of stark inconsistencies between the decisions and steps undertaken by Belarus in the Ostrovets project

According to Irina Sukhiy, Ekodom’s chair of the board, the cooperation agreement does in fact contain ecological information if only because it governs the management of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) that will be generated at the future plant, among other issues.

Ekodom’s legal counsel Grigory Fyodorov believes the Belarusian government’s refusal to provide the text of the NPP cooperation agreement is a direct violation of Article 8 of the Aarhus Convention, “Public participation during the preparation of executive regulations and/or generally applicable legally binding normative instruments,” which says:

“Each Party shall strive to promote effective public participation at an appropriate stage, and while options are still open, during the preparation by public authorities of executive regulations and other generally applicable legally binding rules that may have a significant effect on the environment.”

This article of the convention holds the signatory parties to the obligation of fixing sufficient time-frames for effective public participation, publishing or making otherwise publicly available draft rules and other legally binding documents, and providing the public with the opportunity to comment, directly or through representative consultative bodies.

Fyodorov’s colleague from the Belarusian Legal Transformation Center, Olga Smolyanko, who also heads the center, says that publication of draft laws in Belarus is not of an obligatory nature.

This, she says, creates a fundamental problem: Because draft laws are not made available for the public, citizens have no opportunity to participate in public discussions of current legislative initiatives and the state can pass new laws without giving due consideration to public opinion. According to Smolyanko, this state of affairs defies the principles of the country’s constitution.

“Failure to provide the citizens with information that pertains to their rights and lawful interests runs contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus. The main law of our country entitles its citizens to obtaining information that pertains to their lawful rights and interests,” Smolyanko told Bellona in a comment.

Speaking at a June 30, 2010 parliamentary meeting, First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko said China and Kazakhstan could also produce nuclear fuel for the Belarusian NPP as both these countries have uranium deposits at their disposal.

“The nuclear fuel purchased from Russian implementing organisations and generated as spent nuclear fuel in the reactors of the NPP’s units shall be returned to the Russian Federation for reprocessing on conditions to be determined by the Parties in a separate agreement.”

This points to a high likelihood that the first option, repatriation of Belarusian SNF to Russia – and Belarus accepting back the waste generated during reprocessing – will be the most realistic scenario. And the phrase, in Article 9, “on conditions to be determined by the Parties in a separate agreement” plays a key role in whether it is also the most feasible one.

Aside from transportation and other safety-related issues – such as that the resulting radioactive waste that Belarus will have to accept back after reprocessing will total up to 200 tonnes per every tonne of repatriated SNF – one pressing problem arises from the fact that no reprocessing facility capable of handling SNF generated in VVER-1200 reactors, the model slated for operation at Ostrovets, exists or is even envisioned for construction in Russia, while storage facilities are filled to capacity.

And, according to Ecodefense!’s co-chair Vladimir Slivyak, the reprocessing and storage capacity problem puts the clause on repatriation of Belarusian spent nuclear fuel at odds with the Russian legislation, which prohibits import of radioactive waste into Russia for storage or disposal.

Sergei Novikov, head of Rosatom’s communications department, earlier told the European Radio for Belarus that “this is absolutely a market service, and there exists this international practice whereby [spent nuclear] fuel is taken back for reprocessing for a [negotiated] price.”

In estimates done by Russian experts, SNF reprocessing services could cost Belarus over $3 billion in market prices over the entire period of operation of the new NPP in Ostrovets. .