Belarusian nuclear power plant in for another complex inspection in October 2015

This year’s second complex inspection of the Belarusian nuclear power plant will take place in October, BelTA learned from Olga Lugovskaya, Head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department (Gosatomnadzor) of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry, during the press conference held in BelTA’s press center on 17 June to highlight the international and domestic evaluation of nuclear and radiation safety in Belarus.

“The second complex inspection of the Belarusian nuclear power plant is expected to take place in October. We are now preparing the list of questions,” remarked Olga Lugovskaya.

The official stressed that the list would still be routinely adjusted. “All the oversight agencies operate in a constant monitoring mode since February 2015. We are constantly present at the construction site: Gosatomnadzor inspectors in essence work at the construction site every day,” explained Olga Lugovskaya.

The first complex inspection to verify safety measures during the construction of the first and second power-generating units of the Belarusian nuclear power plant took place on 12-29 May. The inspection was supervised by Gosatomnadzor First Deputy Head Leonid Rydlevsky and involved representatives of the Emergencies Ministry, the State Standardization Committee, the Healthcare Ministry, the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry, the Energy Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Labor and Social Protection Ministry. Russian specialists — employees of the federal enterprise FSUE VO Safety — took part in the inspection as consultants.

As a result of the inspection Gosatomnadzor prepared and forwarded an inspection certificate to the enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant as well as a letter of order, which fulfillment will be closely monitored.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is a project to build an AES-2006 type nuclear power plant 18km away from Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The Belarusian nuclear power plant will have two power-generating units with the total output capacity of up to 2,400MW (2x1,200MW). In line with the general contract for building the nuclear power plant the first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2018, with the second one to go online in 2020.