MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2020) Russia's state nuclear agency Rosatom expects the first unit of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) to be connected to Belarus' national energy grid by late October or early November, Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev said on Wednesday during a meeting with Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev.
The Belarusian NPP is a joint project of Russia and Belarus.
"The Belarusian project is developing smoothly ... We hope to connect to the first block of the Belarusian plant to the network by late October or in November," Likhachev said during the meeting.
Earlier in the day, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that the plant will be launched on November 7.
The plant is being built by Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Rosatom. It will feature two units with VVER-1200 pressurized water reactors. The first power unit is said to be commissioned in early 2021. The second one is expected to start operating in 2022.
