BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

01/12/2006

Belarussian president supports construction of nuclear power plant inBelarus - official

MINSK. Dec 1 (Interfax) - Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko supports the proposals of the government and the science academy to build a nuclear power plant in Belarus, National Science Academy presidium chairman Mikhail Myasnikovich said.

"The head of the state supports the proposals on building a nuclear power plant and has commissioned the government to prepare the necessary papers and to submit them to the Security Council where the final decision will be made," he told journalists after the meeting with Lukashenko on Friday.

The preferred site for the proposed nuclear power plant (NPP) is Krasnopolyanskaya Ploshchadka, in the Mogilyov region, he said.

He also said that the issue of placing the NPP "near the western borders" was discussed at the meeting. "The issue remains urgent," the Science Academy head said.

The date of the launch of the first unit of Belarussian NPP is 2015. "The president ordered the time to be shortened, and the first unit might be launched as early as 2013," Myasnikovich said.

"Currently French proposals present special interest for us, German companies are offering their services in the electrical and technical equipment sector. We are also carefully examining Russian proposals," he said.

The construction of the first unit with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts is calculated to cost "from USD 1.3 to USD 1.7 billion," he said. "If we build two units, the expenses will be USD 3-USD 3.5 billion," he said. "These are not some dreamed-up figures. These are real amounts," he said. In addition, "profitable credit resources" can be attracted to the project, he said.

The president especially focused attention on the issues of the plant's reliability and safety including spent fuel. "Even the price issues have lower priority than the safety issues," he said.

Source:

http://www.interfax.com/5/218591/news.aspx