The State Security Department of Lithuania in its bulletin reported that cracks were found in the first power unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant.
Lithuanian intelligence reminds that in 2022 the first power unit of the nuclear power plant was shut down for routine maintenance, but the authorities of Belarus did not publish information regarding the identified defects.
“According to the available intelligence data, Belarus and Rosatom hid information regarding the incidents that happened at the BelNPP, as well as regarding defects found in the reactor systems. In May 2022, the control systems of the first power unit of the BelNPP recorded cracks in the welds of the upper keys of the reactor vessel. According to experts, it is possible to qualitatively eliminate defects only by removing the reactor, however, due to political reasons, this option was not even considered. Technical problems prevented the launch of the second unit,” the document says.
“It was supposed to be put into operation in 2022, but in February 2022, a chemical change in the composition of the water that cooled the unit’s reactor was recorded – the water was contaminated with tar. It was stated that it was necessary to clean all the pipes of the circuit mechanically and unload the nuclear fuel. (…) It is likely that there were defects in the technical details following the launch of the second block, ”admits Lithuanian intelligence.