MINSK, November 14. /TASS/. The Belarusian authorities have decided to construct a third power unit at the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (BelNPP), the BelTA news agency reported, citing the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Karankevich.
"A decision has been made to develop the Ostrovets Nuclear Power Plant and implement the second phase — the construction of a third power unit," BelTA quoted him as saying. According to Karankevich, work will also be organized in parallel to survey potential sites in the Mogilev Region. "This additional site study will be conducted to determine where, in the future and under conditions of rising electricity demand, further demand could be met through nuclear energy — specifically through the development of nuclear generation in the Mogilev region," the deputy prime minister explained.
Both processes — the construction of the third unit at the Belarusian NPP and the site survey in the Mogilev Region — will proceed simultaneously, he said. "But the decision regarding the second phase of the Belarusian NPP — that is what we will be working on now," Karankevich clarified. As for the possible construction of another nuclear power plant in the future, he said, "Any future decision on the further development of nuclear energy will be linked to the growth of electricity consumption."