An Emergency Happened at BelNPP

The first block of the Astravets NPP stopped generating power.

On Monday morning, information appeared on the network that, on Sunday, the Belarusian NPP's first unit stopped producing power: the turbine was stopped due to the failure of voltage transformers. Throughout Monday, tut.by was expecting an official comment from BelNPP.

- The reason for the shutdown is the explosion of several voltage transformers (they are designed to measure the voltage in electrical power circuits) on one of the units connected to the generator. Formally, nothing out of the ordinary happened, a similar incident happened at the Leningrad NPP, but the investigation, restoration of the power distribution scheme, and re-adjustment will take a lot of time," the source wrote.

According to him, there will be warranty claims against the transformer manufacturer. But, in the near future, the station will not generate energy.

At the end of the day, the Ministry of Energy reported that the "Power start-up" stage was continuing at the Belarusian NPP's first power unit. "This stage provides for the operation modes of the power unit at different power levels (up to 500 MW), as well as checking the stability of the power system when it is repeatedly reduced."

- During the tests conducted, in accordance with the program of this stage, the need to replace individual electrical measuring equipment was identified. Work on the replacement of this equipment is carried out following the technological regulations. Currently, the power unit is undergoing tests and work in accordance with the milestone program. All technological systems are operating normally," the message says.

Let us remind you that, last Saturday, Lukashenka opened the BelNPP in Astravets, permitting to increase the electric capacity of the power unit to 400 MW following the milestone program.

That is, on Saturday, the reactor of the first power unit worked at 40% capacity. In accordance with the test programs, the power unit's capacity should be gradually increased to the design capacity of 1190 MW. Commissioning of the first power unit is planned for the first quarter of 2021.