Belarusian, Russian ecologists continue monitoring Ostrovets nuclear power plant construction

Belarusian and Russian ecologists have completed another stage of the campaign designed to monitor the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant in Ostrovets District, Grodno Oblast, BelTA learned from Alan Khasiyev, president of the coordinating board of the Russian interregional public ecological movement Oka, on 9 November.

It was the second ecological expedition to the Belarusian nuclear power plant construction site together with representatives of the ecological movement Oka. Participants of the expedition took gamma radiation measurements at the construction site and in the area. The current measurements match the natural background in this territory, noted Alan Khasiyev. Apart from that, samples of soil and samples of water from the Viliya River were taken. They will be studied by a lab in Moscow. The monitoring effort is supposed to continue after the nuclear power plant goes online.

Results of this year's research will become the foundation for the so-called environmental passport of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. “The passport is needed for comparative analysis of ecological parameters before and after the nuclear power plant goes online. We can compare how the state of the territory changes. We will be able to rule out all kinds of environment-related imputations like that,” said Alan Khasiyev.

Deputy Chief Engineer of the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant Vitaly Malishevsky noted that the enterprise had assisted the expedition with taking samples and measurements. Representatives of the Belarusian nuclear power plant intend to peruse the expedition's report once it is ready. As far as access of other environmental and public organizations to the Belarusian nuclear power plant construction site is concerned, the relevant procedures are in place. If representatives of these organizations choose to comply with them, they can easily visit the site.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is built using the Russian standard Generation III+ design AES-2006 near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2019, with the second one to go online in 2020.

The interregional public ecological movement Oka was established in Russia in 1989. The organization focuses on studying environmental and energy security matters. The expedition to the Belarusian nuclear power plant construction site was arranged as part of the long-term program on the general public's oversight over the nuclear energy industry. The program was launched in 2010, with dozens of expeditions to Russian nuclear power plants arranged.