Russia dispatches new reactor casing for Belarus nuclear power plant

Russia on October 31 dispatched a new casing for the first reactor block at the Belarusian nuclear power plant in Astravets. The casing, manufactured at the Atommash factory in Volgodonsk, is scheduled to arrive in Astravets by the end of the year, reports BELTA.

Belarus decided to replace the casing last August following the incident at the construction site in July when the casing was dropped from a crane to the ground from the height of four meters. Officials described the incident as follows: the casing was not properly secured. It was hanging for 30 minutes increasingly tilting until "touching the ground."

The decision to replace the reactor casing was taken following the resolution of a Belarusian commission that had worked at the construction site of the Astravets nuclear power plant.