18 Mar (NucNet): Russia and Belarus have signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of Belarus’ first nuclear power plant, according to a statement by Rosatom on 15 March 2011.
The state-owned Russian nuclear corporation said on its website that the two countries signed the construction cooperation agreement in Minsk during a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State of Russia and Belarus.
The plant, to be built in Astravets in the Belarusian region of Grodno, is to consist of two ES-2006 model pressurised water reactors, each with a capacity of up to 1,200 megawatts. The first unit is scheduled to come online in 2017 and the second in 2018.
During a meeting this week with Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, Belarusian prime minister Mikhail Myasnikovich described the project as an “energy bridge with the European Union”.
According to Rosatom, the agreement also stipulates that Russia will provide Belarus with a state loan, although the precise terms are yet to be set in a separate intergovernmental agreement.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Belarus And Russia To Sign Construction Agreement This Month (World Nuclear Review No. 41, 9 October 2009)
Russia ‘Ready To Sign’ Agreement On Belarus N-Plant (News in Brief No. 18, 27 January 2011)
