Russia could build another nuclear power plant in Belarus

Belarus might see its second nuclear power plant (NPP) as its President Alexander Lukashenko made such a plea to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

According to Kommersant.ru, during talks with Putin in Moscow, Lukashenko suggested that Rosatom — Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy corporation — build another NPP in Belarus. However, no details, including construction costs and the timeline, have been disclosed.

The first NPP cost Belarus $5.36 billion. The first reactor was officially launched in 2020, with Lukashenko attending the ceremony in person. Russia’s Atomstroyexport was the key partner of the country in that project.

Kazakhstan also seeks to build its own NPP. On Oct. 6, 2024, authorities held a nationwide referendum on constructing an NPP in the Almaty region, gaining public support. At the time, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated that the power plant should be built by an international consortium.

In the referendum, more than 70% of Kazakhstani voters (5,561,937) said «yes» to the NPP construction, while 28.88% (2,045,271 people) did not support the project.

According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy, the first 2.4-gigawatt NPP could be financed either through foreign credit or loans from international financial institutions. However, authorities haven’t ruled out a third option in which both financial schemes are combined.