Incident reported at Belarus nuclear plant days after launch
Lithuania has asked Belarus for clarification after its new nuclear plant located some 50 kilometres from the country’s capital suffered an incident just five days after launch.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko took part in the opening of the plant on 6 November, where he said the launch of the Astravyets NPP was as “ordinary” as building a metro.
“Belarus is becoming a nuclear power,” he declared.
Several voltage-measuring transformers outside of the nuclear reactor exploded during an incident on 7 November, according to sources at TUT.by, an independent media outlet in Belarus.
On Monday, the Belarusian Energy Ministry said that “a need to replace the measuring equipment arose” during testing, without providing further details.
Lithuania’s State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate (VATESI) said the plant is still undergoing testing. However, “we have also received no information about the [planned] next steps to launch the plant”, VATESI told BNS in a written comment.
Lithuania has been one of the most ardent critics of the nuclear plant built by the Russian state atomic corporation Rosatom and funded by a loan from the Kremlin.
Vilnius says the plant is unsafe and was built in breach of international safety standards. Minsk denies all allegations.
In September, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland had sent a joint statement to the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and contracting parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS), calling on Belarus to start addressing nuclear safety issues without delay.
At the same time, the Russian company Rosatom is in talks with Belarus about the construction of a second nuclear power plant and a research reactor in the country, Rosatom chief Alexander Likhachev announced on Tuesday in a video statement.
In August, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania agreed not to purchase electricity from the plant.
The Baltic states are gearing up to switch from the Russian-controlled BRELL electricity grid that also includes Belarus, and synchronise with the continental European system by 2025.
(Benas Gerdžiūnas, LRT.lt/en | Alexandra Brzozowski, EURACTIV.com)
Belarusian Nuclear Plant Stops Electricity Output Three Days After Opening Ceremony
MINSK -- Belarus's only nuclear plant, near the Lithuanian border, has suspended electricity production just three days after authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka officially opened it, boasting that his country "will become a nuclear power."
An official from the nuclear plant said on November 10 that the facility's output had been stopped after the Energy Ministry said a day earlier that unspecified equipment must be replaced before any resumption of electricity production.
The Tut.by online outlet quoted a source close to energy officials as saying that operations at the nuclear plant were suspended after several voltage transformers exploded.
According to the source, the situation is under control, there were no casualties, and no radiation abnormalities were registered at the plant.
On November 7, when opening the nuclear plant near the western city of Astravets, Lukashenka called the facility "a new step into the future, toward ensuring the energy security of the state."
Built by Russian state-owned firm Rosatom and financed by Moscow with a $10 billion loan, the construction of the power plant in the Hrodna region was opposed by Lithuania, whose capital, Vilnius, is just 50 kilometers away.
Astravets draws water for its cooling reactors from the Nevis River, which is also a source of drinking water in Lithuania.
Belarus began operating the plant last week, prompting Lithuania to halt electricity imports from its neighbor.
The plant's construction has also been divisive among Belarusians, who suffered greatly as a result of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Belarus saw a quarter of its territory contaminated in the world's worst civilian nuclear accident.
Lithuania asks Minsk for official information on Astravyets NPPincident
BNS
2020.11.11 11:40
Astravyets NPP / AP
Lithuania has asked Belarus to provide official information on Sunday's incident at the Astravyets nuclear power plant, located some 50 kilometres from Vilnius, according to a diplomatic note handed to Minsk by Lithuania's Foreign Ministry.
Connected to the Belarus power grid last week, the Astravyets nuclear power plant is not producing electricity since Sunday noon.
The Belarusian Energy Ministry said on Monday "the need to replace individual electrical engineering measuring equipment was identified" at the nuclear facility, but did not provide more information.
Vilnius hands out iodide pills as Belarus nuclear plant nears completion
LRT.lt, BNS2020.10.20 09:59
Iodine pills / Vilnius City Municipality
On Tuesday, pharmacies in Vilnius started handing out iodide pills to the residents of the Lithuanian capital.
Despite Lithuania’s continuing protests, Belarus is gearing up to launch its Astravyets nuclear plant some 50 kilometres from Vilnius. Lithuanian officials say the plant is unsafe, an allegation Minsk denies.
Astravyets NPP, due to become fully operational in 2021, already started nuclear fission reactions earlier in October. Meanwhile, the Lithuanian Health Ministry has distributed 4 million potassium iodide pills in 16 municipalities within 100 kilometres of the plant.
Used to protect the thyroid in case of a nuclear disaster, the medicine in Vilnius can be picked up free of charge at the Eurovaistinė, Camelia, Gintarinė Vaistinė, Norfos Vaistinė, and Benu pharmacy chains.
