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Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Foreigners expected to take "key" positions at Belarusian nuclear power plant

Foreign experts will be invited to "key" positions at Belarus' nuclear power plant, Mikalay Hrusha, deputy director general of the Belarusian science academy's Sosny nuclear and power engineering center, said in an interview with BelaPAN.

He said that there are no experts with appropriate skills in Belarus, but there are in Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine, noting that "quite many" foreign specialists "expressed wish" to work at the plant.

However, Mr. Hrusha said, the core staff will still consist of Belarusian workers. "Our goal is to carry out a national project," he explained.

A working group reportedly has been set up to examine matters concerning the training of staff for the nuclear power plant.

Courses in the management and operation of nuclear power stations are expected to be introduced as early as the 2008/2009 academic year by Belarusian National Technical University, Belarusian State University and Andrei Sakharov Minsk State Environmental University.

Mr. Hrusha said that graduates will most likely to undergo practical training at operating plants abroad.
He said that the universities also will invite foreign experts to give lectures.

The government wants to put the first unit of the 2,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in operation in 2016 and start the second one in 2018.

The plant, estimated at $4 billion, is expected to be located in the Mahilyow region. It would generate some 15 percent of the country's energy demand.

Source: Naviny.by

1 comment:

Alexandra Prokopenko said...

This nuclear power plant construction is positioned at the very beginning as a NATIONAL project which might give Belarus more energy security and economic independence from energy import from Russia. However, the recent events and tendencies show that it is more likely to be at least international, if not completely foreign project.