Belarus' NPP construction practices incorporated into international recommendations

MINSK, 13 March (BelTA) – Belarus' nuclear power plant construction practices are recommended for use to other nuclear newcomer countries, Belarusian Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich said on the air of the Belarus 1 TV channel on 12 March, BelTA has learned.

The minister stressed that Belarus has taken all necessary measures to ensure a high degree of safety of the nuclear power plant. "Rosatom State Corporation is in charge of the construction. For Rosatom this is the first foreign facility that uses VVER-1200 reactors of the generation 3+, meeting the latest, most stringent safety requirements. This is the most proven technology," Viktor Karankevich said.

According to him, such units have already been built in the Russian Federation, and are under construction in Turkey, Egypt, and Hungary. "The project applies unique approaches to ensuring nuclear and radiation safety. The reactor plant, or reactor building, has two protective shells. It will not be damaged even in the event of an earthquake, flood, hurricane," the minister assured.

He noted that Belarus interacts with leading international organizations in the field of nuclear and radiation safety. First of all, it is the IAEA and the World Association of Nuclear Operators, Viktor Karankevich specified.

Thus, Belarus has been cooperating with the IAEA for quite a long time across a huge spectrum of activities. “In 2012- 2022 we hosted all the missions recommended by the agency. We received a positive feedback on the nuclear infrastructure and the nuclear and radiation safety of the nuclear power plant itself. We are always open in this regard. We fulfill at the highest level all the requirements to a newcomer country,” he emphasized.

“At the same time, some of the solutions used to build the Belarusian nuclear power plant proved quite useful and therefore they were adopted by the IAEA and recommended to other newcomer countries. In other words, some Belarusian practices were incorporated into international recommendations,” he added.