Ministry of Energy tells where spent nuclear fuel from BelNPP will be exported for reprocessing

Spent nuclear fuel from BelNPP will be exported to Russia for reprocessing tentatively from 2032. This was stated by Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich, reports BelTA.

Viktor Karankevich specified that the spent nuclear fuel will be stored in storage pools, located in the reactor building of BelNPP, for 8-10 years. And starting from 2032, its transportation by rail in special packing containers to the Russian Federation for reprocessing will begin. This will be done by the company TVEL, which is part of the state corporation Rosatom.

The spent nuclear fuel will stay in Russia for about 20 years to reduce residual heat generation and radioactivity. The reprocessing products will be returned to Belarus from Russia from 2050.

The Belarusian NPP with two VVER-1200 reactors with a total capacity of 2,400 MW was built according to the Russian project "NPP-2006", which refers to the evolutionary projects of NPPs with third-generation water-water reactors (VVER). They have improved technical and economic performance. Their main feature is a unique combination of active and passive safety systems.