Russia to build Belarus nuclear plant without tender

Russian and Belarusian governments agreed to sign the inter-governmental agreement in the first quarter of 2009.

Russia will be able to build a nuclear power plant in Belarus without a tender once the two ex-Soviet republics sign an inter-governmental agreement on civilian nuclear power use, Russia's Rosatom representative said.

Russia and Belarus agreed to sign the inter-governmental agreement in the first quarter of 2009 during talks on Wednesday between the Belarusian government and a Rosatom delegation, RIA Novosti informs.

"The signing of this agreement opens up the possibility for the parties to switch to direct negotiations on a contract for the construction of the first Belarusian nuclear power plant on a turnkey basis," Rosatom said.

Belarus plans to build a nuclear power plant with a capacity of 2,000 MW, with the first unit to come online in 2016 and the second in 2018. The plant is expected to have Generation III water-moderated reactors.

The construction site for nuclear plant builders is situated in Astravets. The north-west of Belarus is the land of beautiful lakes situated between picturesque hills. It’s the place which is rich in reservation parks and nature reserves. A national park Narachanski, the most popular holiday resort in Belarus, is situated nearby.