Congratulations to our colleagues from Belarus on the launch of the first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant – on October 11, 2020, in accordance with the construction schedule of the Belarusian NPP, a chain reaction was successfully launched at the first power unit – the reactor unit was brought to the minimum controlled power level. This marked the beginning of the reactor life cycle.

In accordance with the State program on human resource development for the nuclear power industry of the Republic of Belarus, 848 specialists with the university degree have been trained by the end of 2019. 194 graduates have been employed by the Belarusian NPP, 136 – by other organizations of the Ministry of Energy, 87 – by the Regulatory authority Gosatomnadzor, the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the design Institute BelNIIPI Energoprom and the Ministry of Education. 352 graduates have been employed by the organizations, carrying out activities associated with the construction, commissioning and operation of the first NPP in the Republic. In addition, 79 people have been employed by organizations that work with ionizing radiation sources.

Many of graduates who are currently working at the Belarusian nuclear power plant have completed practical training in Vienna, Austria, organized by the STAR-NET network. The internship programs were tailored to the specific work of future specialists and included technical tours, practical work at the TRIGA Mark-II research reactor of the Atominstitut/Vienna Technical University, lectures and practical classes conducted by leading experts and IAEA staff.

In the near future, the first power unit will conduct a set of studies that will confirm the reliability of the entire system of nuclear physical control and nuclear safety of the reactor installation. The next stage will be the power start-up of the first power unit with connection to the country’s power grid.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant with two VVER-1200 reactors with a total capacity of 2400 MW is being built under the Russian project “NPP-2006” near Ostrovets, Grodno region. The General contractor is the Russian State Corporation “Rosatom”.