Belarus seeks to involve Latvian experts into public survey of BelNPP

Belarusian environmentalists would like to engage Latvian NGOs into the public monitoring of the environmental impact of the Belarusians nuclear power plant, Chairman of the Environmental Initiative association Yuri Solovyov said during an online briefing on the website of the BelTA News Agency on 20 December.

“At present representatives of Belarus, Russia and Lithuania are involved in the public monitoring project. French and Finnish environmental organizations might join the project as well. Talks are underway to involve Latvian NGOs into the project,” Yuri Solovyov said.

He reminded that within the framework of the environmental monitoring project, Belarusian NGOs jointly with the National Center for Radiation Control and Environmental Monitoring of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus did measurements of gamma radiation and collected samples of soil, water and air for caesium-137 and strontium-90 around the NPP construction site and several settlements located nearby, including the town of Ostrovets.

“The data obtained during the tests will become the basis for an independent monitoring of the impact of the nuclear power plant on the environment. The results of the tests will be used to monitor the changes in the environment near the nuclear power plant after the facility is commissioned,” the environmentalist said.

The project to conduct the public monitoring of the Belarusian nuclear power plant’s environmental impact has been carried out upon the initiative of a number of Belarusian ecological organizations with assistance of the general public, scientists, and specialists from Belarus, Lithuania, and Russia. The Russian side was represented by the interregional ecological organization Oka while the Lithuanian side was represented by the Institute for Regional Development and Democracy. The National Center for Radiation Control and Environmental Monitoring of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus used the data collected in 2013 to compile a detailed report. The report was made available via the websites of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection and the Nuclear Power Plant Construction Directorate. Results of the monitoring were presented to the general public of Lithuania at a roundtable session in Vilnius on 17 December.