Russian company Atomstroiexport has been selected to build the first nuclear power station in Belarus, a senior Belarus government official said on Wednesday. Russia will be able to build a nuclear power plant in Belarus without a tender once the two ex-Soviet republics sign an inter-governmental agreement on civilian nuclear power use, Russia's Rosatom said.
      
      Belarus plans to build a nuclear power plant with a capacity of 2,000 MW, with the first unit to come online in 2016 and the second in 2018. The plant is expected to have Generation III water-moderated reactors.
      
      Belarus was the country worst affected by the 1986 fire and explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant over the border in Ukraine, with one-third of territory contaminated. But there is very little opposition to nuclear power in the country of 10 million on Russia's western border.
      
      Source: www.guardian.co.uk