OREANDA-NEWS. September 07, 2009. The Council of Ministers of Belarus issued Resolution No 1125 to approve the bilateral Agreement between Belarus and Russia for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation. The document was signed in Minsk on 28 May 2009, reported the Official website government.by.

The Foreign Ministry of Belarus will notify the other side of the execution of domestic procedures which are necessary for the agreement to come into force.

The Agreement between Belarus and Russia for Intergovernmental Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation is a framework document. It stipulates the basic lines of cooperation in development, designing, construction and operation of the nuclear power plant, alongside with fuel supplies, nuclear and radiation safety, scientific cooperation and personnel training, etc. The intergovernmental agreement on the nuclear plant construction will be the next stage of the cooperation. Belarus and Russia coordinated the draft agreement in early August.

Belarus has plans to construct a nuclear power plant of the 2,400MW capacity. The first power unit will be put into operation in 2016, the second – in 2018. The plant will be built upon the project of Saint Petersburg Atomenergoproyekt Institute. General contractor will be Atomstroyexport, a state-owned engineering company regulated by the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom). Atomstroyexport constructs about 20% of the world’s nuclear plants.