Belarusian NPP: a time bomb or a step towards independence?
The idea of building a nuclear power plant on the territory of the Republic of Belarus originated in the early 70s of the last century. The plans for the location of the power plant, its capacity and structure were changing, and after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, it was decided to completely abandon the use of atomic energy. Nevertheless, the experience of many countries with a lack of energy resources has shown that with proper operation, a peaceful atom can indeed be peaceful. And, despite the fact that now we can observe a tendency to abandon nuclear energy, in 2011 a decision was made to build such an object in Belarus.
The announcement of the start of work and the location of the nuclear power plant was negatively accepted not only by the local population, but also by neighboring states. In particular, Lithuania expresses its concern about the location of the facility in a rather negative form. And this is not surprising, because from the nuclear power plant to Vilnius (the capital), only 50 kilometers. In addition, water from the Viliya River, which, again, flows through Vilnius, will be used for cooling. Inside Belarus itself, the population is also concerned about the construction of a nuclear power plant. Since the start of construction, protests have been held regularly.
A negative attitude has long been formed towards nuclear energy in eastern Europe, there is absolutely nothing surprising here. Much more interesting are the plans of the leadership of Belarus, which sometimes make you smile and sometimes bewilder.
Most of the statements from the country's leadership are aimed at calming the masses and instilling a positive attitude towards nuclear energy. So, for example, we can recall a relatively recent statement about the development of personal electric transport in the country. And it was not about Tesla or hybrid cars, but about their own product. True, given the fact that really good specialists are trying to escape from local low salaries to other countries, it remains unclear who will re-stick stickers on Chinese electric cars?
Separately, it must be mentioned that until 2018, they tried to put the idea of the cheapness of atomic energy into the heads of the country's population with enviable regularity. And this really succeeded, since the vast majority of people were sure that after the start of the nuclear power plant, electricity would become almost free. But reality is somewhat different from fantasy. The main problem of electricity is that it cannot be stored as oil or gas, or rather, of course, it can, but such storage will cost more than production. Given that a nuclear reactor is not a light bulb, you just can’t turn it off, it turns out that the greater the electricity consumption, the higher the financial efficiency of the facility.
Initially, plans for the Belarusian nuclear power plant were really Napoleonic. It was planned to provide electricity for ourselves and our western neighbors and get the most out of what we can squeeze out of the nuclear power plant. But, as noted above, the neighbors are not at all happy that they have a potentially dangerous facility behind the fence and so far there are no specific agreements. And if there are no agreements, then there is no possibility of supplying electricity, because this requires the modernization of old power lines and the installation of new ones, which is not done in one day and not at all free.
In the future, the issue may be resolved and the nuclear power plant will supply neighboring states with electricity in the planned volume, but this will not be immediately. What now? And now the bet is on domestic electricity consumption. So, for a long time, new buildings abandoned gas equipment for cooking, and some new residential buildings were originally designed even for heating premises using electricity.
Against the background of a not entirely truthful economic justification for this approach, one can observe quite bold statements from politicians, some of which are very interesting. First of all, it is planned to reduce the purchase of energy resources from Russia, and some courageous people generally talk about a complete rejection of Russian gas. But you need to understand that all this sounds against the background of relations between the countries that have become aggravated recently. And the complete transfer to electricity for consumer needs remains more a fantasy than a reality, since the current electrical networks will have to be completely changed, which is more than complex economic conditions are simply impossible.
What is the result? But in the end, the plans for the payback of a nuclear power plant remain very vague and the first time after commissioning will have to pay, first of all, the country's population. In confirmation of this last year, one can still observe very cautious statements that electricity will not be free. It is expected that in the future it will be possible to hear harsher words, but it is not yet clear whose direction they will be sent, towards the Western neighbors or Russia, which quite naturally will ask for the money returned for the construction.
The launch of the first power unit is scheduled for mid-2019.
The announcement of the start of work and the location of the nuclear power plant was negatively accepted not only by the local population, but also by neighboring states. In particular, Lithuania expresses its concern about the location of the facility in a rather negative form. And this is not surprising, because from the nuclear power plant to Vilnius (the capital), only 50 kilometers. In addition, water from the Viliya River, which, again, flows through Vilnius, will be used for cooling. Inside Belarus itself, the population is also concerned about the construction of a nuclear power plant. Since the start of construction, protests have been held regularly.
A negative attitude has long been formed towards nuclear energy in eastern Europe, there is absolutely nothing surprising here. Much more interesting are the plans of the leadership of Belarus, which sometimes make you smile and sometimes bewilder.
Most of the statements from the country's leadership are aimed at calming the masses and instilling a positive attitude towards nuclear energy. So, for example, we can recall a relatively recent statement about the development of personal electric transport in the country. And it was not about Tesla or hybrid cars, but about their own product. True, given the fact that really good specialists are trying to escape from local low salaries to other countries, it remains unclear who will re-stick stickers on Chinese electric cars?
Separately, it must be mentioned that until 2018, they tried to put the idea of the cheapness of atomic energy into the heads of the country's population with enviable regularity. And this really succeeded, since the vast majority of people were sure that after the start of the nuclear power plant, electricity would become almost free. But reality is somewhat different from fantasy. The main problem of electricity is that it cannot be stored as oil or gas, or rather, of course, it can, but such storage will cost more than production. Given that a nuclear reactor is not a light bulb, you just can’t turn it off, it turns out that the greater the electricity consumption, the higher the financial efficiency of the facility.
Initially, plans for the Belarusian nuclear power plant were really Napoleonic. It was planned to provide electricity for ourselves and our western neighbors and get the most out of what we can squeeze out of the nuclear power plant. But, as noted above, the neighbors are not at all happy that they have a potentially dangerous facility behind the fence and so far there are no specific agreements. And if there are no agreements, then there is no possibility of supplying electricity, because this requires the modernization of old power lines and the installation of new ones, which is not done in one day and not at all free.
In the future, the issue may be resolved and the nuclear power plant will supply neighboring states with electricity in the planned volume, but this will not be immediately. What now? And now the bet is on domestic electricity consumption. So, for a long time, new buildings abandoned gas equipment for cooking, and some new residential buildings were originally designed even for heating premises using electricity.
Against the background of a not entirely truthful economic justification for this approach, one can observe quite bold statements from politicians, some of which are very interesting. First of all, it is planned to reduce the purchase of energy resources from Russia, and some courageous people generally talk about a complete rejection of Russian gas. But you need to understand that all this sounds against the background of relations between the countries that have become aggravated recently. And the complete transfer to electricity for consumer needs remains more a fantasy than a reality, since the current electrical networks will have to be completely changed, which is more than complex economic conditions are simply impossible.
What is the result? But in the end, the plans for the payback of a nuclear power plant remain very vague and the first time after commissioning will have to pay, first of all, the country's population. In confirmation of this last year, one can still observe very cautious statements that electricity will not be free. It is expected that in the future it will be possible to hear harsher words, but it is not yet clear whose direction they will be sent, towards the Western neighbors or Russia, which quite naturally will ask for the money returned for the construction.
The launch of the first power unit is scheduled for mid-2019.
Information