Translated material
Atomic intrigue
The Belarusian opposition wants to know who will build a nuclear power plant and why
The Russian "E4 Group" stated that the Kiev Scientific Research Institute "Energoproekt", which is part of this holding, has been chosen as a consultant to the BelNIPIEnergoprom Institute - the general designer of the first nuclear power plant in Belarus . The agreement will be signed one of these days: “Work on selecting a site for the nuclear power plant is planned to be completed in 2008, and justification for investment in 2009.” (In Minsk they say that the station will be built in the Mogilev region.)The other day, First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko announced that construction would begin in January 2009. By this time, Minsk will decide on a contractor and sources of financing, but since these and other important issues have not yet been resolved, independent experts find it difficult to say whether the project will be profitable and safe.
The Belarusian leadership voiced the idea of creating its own nuclear power plant more than a year ago, when Russia announced its intention to increase oil and gas prices for Belarus. Minsk sees the creation of a nuclear power plant as an opportunity to ensure the country's energy security. Currently, Belarus depends on Russian gas supplies, which account for about two-thirds of its energy consumption. Vladimir Semashko said that the nuclear power plant will provide about 25% of electricity needs, which will reduce annual gas consumption by 5.5-6 billion cubic meters, that is, by about a quarter.
The commissioning of the first power unit of the nuclear power plant is scheduled for 2016, and the second should begin operating in two years. The capacity of each unit will be 1000 MW. The station will operate on third-generation pressurized water reactors. Today they are supplied by three concerns: the Franco-German AREVA, the American-British-Japanese Westinghouse-Toshiba and the Russian Atomstroyexport.
At the Nuclear Energy 2008 exhibition held in Minsk last week, of these three concerns, only Atomstroyexport was represented. “We told our Belarusian colleagues about the advantages of cooperation with Russia,” Alexander Glukhov, first vice-president of Atomstroyexport, told Vremya Novostei. “But I cannot yet predict our participation in the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus.”
Minsk expects to build a nuclear power plant for $4 billion - this amount was announced in mid-January at a government meeting with the participation of President Alexander Lukashenko. Previously, Belarusian officials spoke about the possible attraction of loans for construction and that a tender would be announced to select a contractor, but the timing of its holding has not yet been announced. Minsk intends to decide on sources of financing by the end of the year. By this time the issue with the contractor will be resolved. In world practice, it is customary to provide tied loans for the implementation of such projects. So it cannot be ruled out that if the choice falls on Atomstroyexport, Russia will provide the loan. Vice President of the company Alexander Glukhov noted to VN that “the Russian system of export support involves lending through Vnesheconombank.”
A representative of the press service of another Russian company, OJSC Atomenergoprom, Daria Ozerova, reminded VN that Moscow, for example, provided a loan to Bulgaria for the construction of a nuclear power plant.
The terms of the loan may be of fundamental importance for Minsk. It is not yet clear whether the nuclear power plant will operate only for domestic needs or also for export. After all, both the payback of the project and the prospects for repayment of the loan depend on this. “There are risks here, although strategically the construction of a nuclear power plant is necessary. The question is how well the project will be thought out and calculated,” Belarusian independent economist Pavel Daneyko told VN.
There is another important aspect of the problem. Minsk hesitated for a long time to build a nuclear power plant because of Belarusians’ fear of nuclear energy after the Chernobyl explosion. Experts still say today that society should be provided with guarantees of the station’s safety. Former speaker of the Belarusian parliament, professor of physics Stanislav Shushkevich noted to VN that Belarus “cannot do without nuclear energy, because there cannot be a prosperous people without a certain level of electricity generation per capita.” Mr. Shushkevich emphasized that the authorities did not make public the conclusions of experts on the construction of the nuclear power plant: “The publication of an expert opinion would make it possible to ensure that the state seriously considered issues related to the safety of the plant.”
Opponents of Alexander Lukashenko will not leave the problem of the safety of the future nuclear power plant without attention. “The opposition does not have a common opinion on nuclear energy, but we all agree that the construction of the station cannot be carried out in a closed information mode. This topic will definitely be raised before the parliamentary elections in September,” leader of the Belarusian United Civil Party Anatoly Lebedko told VN.
Moscow and Minsk are thinking about missile defense together
“A unified air defense system (air defense) of Russia and Belarus will be created,” said the head of the Belarusian Ministry of Defense Leonid Maltsev yesterday at a press conference in Minsk, answering a question from Vremya Novostei. This will happen after the agreement on this again goes through the procedure of internal approval in Belarus. It was necessary after Russia introduced amendments to the document at the end of 2006.
According to Leonid Maltsev, the current joint air defense system effectively protects the allied airspace: “We control the airspace from Kaliningrad to Smolensk in real time.” The minister confirmed that Minsk intends to purchase new S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems from Russia, but did not specify when this would happen.
Russia and Belarus will take steps together to ensure their security in connection with US plans to deploy elements of a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. “This could upset the post-Cold War balance of power.” The balance, good or bad, was achieved through hard effort. It starts to break down. This is dangerous, and for everyone,” Maltsev emphasized. Olga TOMASHEVSKAYA, Minsk