Belarus in the future can become one of the world leaders in the level of atomic generation in the general energy balance.
About this in an interview with the magazine “Economics of Belarus” was told by the Minister of Energy of Belarus Viktor Kararankevich, BelTA reports.
According to him, the share of electricity produced at the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelaES) already exceeds a quarter of its production in the country, and will grow.
The head of the Ministry of Energy noted that in the economies of only five countries of the world, energy from nuclear power plants exceeds 40 percent in the general production.
KARANKEVICHI recalled that Belarus became the first foreign platform, where the State Corporation “Rosatom” built an atomic station with water-water reactors (VVER) of generation 3+ with increased safety characteristics.
“The peaceful atom provides the production of more than 10% of the electricity in the world. About 440 power units are operated in total. 6 new reactors were launched last year. According to the latest Magate forecast, by 2050 the power of nuclear power plants in the world will increase more than doubled, up to 890 GW, ”he said.
According to him, Bulgaria, Latvia, Poland, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland and others declared intentions to build nuclear power plants. More recently, 12 European states have come up with the initiative to create an industrial alliance for those interested in small modular nuclear reactors, the minister added.
On the eve of Karankevich said that Belarus was considering the possibility of building a second nuclear power plant or third power unit, but it is necessary to first evaluate the volume of electricity consumption by 2040 and to predict the development of industry.
BelaES, located in the area of the city of Ostrovets, Grodno region, was built according to the standard Russian project “NPP-2006”. The first power unit of the station was put into industrial operation in June 2021. The act of acceptance into operation of the launch complex of the second power unit of the Belarusian Unit was signed by members of the State Commission on November 1, 2023.