The Belarus Nuclear Power Plant has received permit to perform works on the stage-wise program for the power start-up of Unit 1.

On October 23, 2020 the Board of the Ministry for Emergency situations of the Republic of Belarus, based on the resolution of the State Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Belarus, agreed to amend the licenses of the State enterprise "Belorussian NPP" and JSC ASE EC, allowing to start works based on the stage-wise program for power start-up of Unit 1.

Stage-wise program of the power start-up involves a gradual rise of the reactor power from 1% to 50% and connection of the Unit to the grid at a power level of 40% and dynamic testing at a power level of 50%. Activities performed based on stage-wise program for power start up shall be finished by December, 2020.

Belarus NPP Unit 1 commissioning started on 7th August, 2020 when the first fuel assembly with fresh fuel was placed into the reactor pressure vessel. On October 11, at the stage of physical start-up, the reactor was brought to the minimum controlled power level (less than 1% of the rated power). In total, more than 50 physical measurements were performed during the physical start-up stage, which confirmed that the nuclear and physical characteristics of the reactor comply with design parameters.

Belarus NPP with two VVER-1200 reactors having a total capacity of 2400 MW is being constructed in Ostrovets (Republic of Belarus). The Russian 3+ generation design that is fully compliant with the international standards and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety recommendations, has been selected for the first NPP in Belarus.

Belarus NPP Unit 1 is the first generation 3+ Unit built abroad based on Russian technologies. Currently, three power Units of similar type have been successfully operating in Russia: two Units at the Novovoronezh NPP and one Unit - at the Leningrad NPP. The fourth generation 3+ power unit - Unit No 6 of Leningrad NPP, was successfully connected to the grid on 22 October. This technology was also selected by Finland, Hungary, Bangladesh, Turkey and Egypt.