On January 12, at 19-57, the first power unit of Belarus NPP of the newest III+ generation with VVER-1200 reactor (general designer and general contractor – ROSATOM’s Engineering Division) was for the first time brought to rated power level.
“Commencement of power ascension to 100% is the main event at the stage of trial operation of any nuclear facility power unit”, said Vitaly Polyanin, ASE EC JSC project director for Belarus NPP construction. – After verification of actual parameters and characteristics of the systems and equipment operation for conformity with the design values, the power unit will be put into commercial operation.
Start-up operations at Belarus NPP power unit 1 of III+ generation with VVER-1200 reactor started on August 7, 2020, when the first fresh fuel assemblies were loaded into the reactor core. On October 11, 2020, the reactor was brought to minimum controlled power level (less than 1% of the rated power). On November 3, 2020, the power unit was connected to the unified power grid of Republic of Belarus. On December 22, trial operation of the power unit commenced.
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Belarus NPP having two VVER-1200 reactors with the total capacity of 2400 MW is being constructed in Ostrovets (the Republic of Belarus). The Russian III+ generation design that is fully compliant with the international standards and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety recommendations, was selected for the first NPP in Belarus.
Belarus NPP Unit 1 has become the first Gen III+ unit in operation built abroad based on the Russian technologies. Currently, three power units of similar type are successfully operating in Russia, including two units at Novovoronezh NPP and one unit at Leningrad NPP. On January 3, 2021, the fourth power unit of +II generation – Unit 6 of Leningrad NPP, was brought to 100% power level.