Public hearings on nuclear plant’s Unit 2 operation set for mid-September

June 29, BPN. Belarus’ emergency ministry is planning to hold public hearings in mid-September on licensing Unit 2 of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (NPP) for commercial operation.

“The government requested that we inform the public on the decision-making procedure,” the ministry’s press office quoted Volha Łuhoŭskaja, a spokesperson, as saying.

Currently, Unit 2 is operating in a pilot mode, she added.

Located near Astraviec, Hrodna region, some 10 miles off the Lithuanian border, the Belarusian NPP has been designed by Russia’s Rosatom and built with a Russian loan. Lithuania views the plant as unsafe and describes it as a “geopolitical weapon.”

Unit 1 started pilot operation in November 2020, and commercial operation, in June 2021. Unit 2 is scheduled to begin commercial operation in October.