Access to information about Belarus’ NPP construction meets European standards

The distribution of information and access to information about the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant meet most advanced European standards, Chairman of the Board of the Belarusian Public Association “Ecological Initiative” Yuri Soloviev told BelTA following the international expo and conference AtomExpo Belarus 2013 that concluded in Minsk on 4 April.

Belarus is a signatory to the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (known as the Aarhus Convention) and conscientiously fulfills its obligations subsequent upon the convention, Yuri Soloviev said.

In his words, all public associations are able to get information about all the stages of the Belarusian NPP construction without any obstacles. The recent nuclear power forum is another testimony to that, he said.

“We have visited the construction site several times, a thing impossible in some countries. We encountered no obstacles while doing that,” the expert said. He praised the openness of the administration of the nuclear power plant project. “It looks like they have nothing to hide, they agree to hold any events related to information distribution,” Yuri Soloviev said.

The environmentalist called on public associations to get more involved in the awareness raising campaign and have a closer look at all the related issues. “It is important that public associations see into the information they get, do not believe everything they hear, try to understand the details of this complex project, learn what kind of safety measures are used in the NPP construction project, and provide the public with correct information. People are very much concerned about that, they want to get objective and correct information, not assumptions,” Yuri Soloviev said. He emphasized that “while getting and distributing information about the NPP project, all organizations should be responsible for the things they say. The information should be based on facts and only those facts that were truly verified,” Yuri Soloviev said.

Today nobody doubts that the AES-2006 design to which the Belarusian NPP is being constructed is based on the most cutting-edge solutions. It is the only one that combines active and passive safety systems. “It is important for the public to exercise control over the construction project, to make sure the construction complies with design documents and all the safety requirements are really observed,” he said.

In his words, we need to give credit the Belarus-style discipline of local construction specialists and the tough control over the construction of the nuclear power plant that is exercise on the level of the head of state. The environmentalist is convinced that the Belarusian nuclear power plant will be built using all the planned technologies.

The expo and conference AtomExpo Belarus 2013 was held in the capital city on 2-4 April. The program of the forum featured a plenary session, roundtables and thematic sections discussing various theoretical and practical matters of the Belarusian NPP construction project, the global nuclear energy development and possible participation of Belarusian organizations and companies in nuclear power projects in other countries. Taking part in the forum were over 80 companies and organizations working in the nuclear power, energy and engineering sectors of Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and other countries.