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Report: Power plant near Minsk was hit by explosion last month

Reports have it that an explosion occurred two weeks ago at TETs-5, a power and heating plant near Minsk that has recently been modernized by a Chinese company.

The plant's personnel avoid discussing the accident, but some insiders have been sharing "scant information" about it since mid-December, reported opposition news site charter97.org.

According to the site's source, a blade might have broken off from a Chinese turbine and ended up in the combustor. Although the source did not say how serious the accident was, he claimed that the explosion could be heard outside the power plant.

In December 2011, a new steam-and-gas unit built by China National Corporation for Overseas Economic Cooperation was put into operation at TETs-5.

The unit includes a gas turbine and a steam turbine, which have capacities of 270 and 129.6 megawatts, respectively.

The construction project was carried out with a €260.2-million Chinese loan.

When reached by BelaPAN, Dzmitry Kishko, director of TETs-5, refused to say anything about the rumors.