Belarusian nuclear plant’s Unit 2 starts pilot operation

May 31, BPN. Unit 2 of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (NPP) has started pilot operation, the energy ministry’s press office reported.

At this stage, Unit 2 reactor’s capacity will be gradually increased to 100 percent, it noted. Over 200 tests will be performed to extensively check technological systems and equipment in different operation modes, including disconnection from the grid, the press office said.

Currently, the reactor capacity is being increased to 75 percent, the energy ministry said.

Located near Astraviec, Hrodna region, some 10 miles off the Lithuanian border, the Belarusian NPP has been designed by Russia’s Rosatom and built with a Russian loan. Lithuania views the plant as unsafe and describes it as a “geopolitical weapon.”

Unit 1 started pilot operation in November 2020, and commercial operation, in June 2021. Unit 2 is scheduled to begin commercial operation in October. Its physical launch stage took 56 days.