Belarusian specialists study spent nuclear fuel management at Ukrainian power plant

MINSK, 25 October (BelTA) – Belarusian nuclear industry specialists were made familiar with how spent nuclear fuel is handled at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, representatives of the Information and Public Relations Department of the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant told BelTA.

Specialists of the Belarusian nuclear power plant spent several weeks undertaking an internship at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. The internship was arranged as part of the IAEA's technical cooperation project designed to enhance the potential of the operating company for the sake of safe and reliable operation of nuclear power plants in 2018-2019.

Once the Belarusian nuclear power plant is commissioned, its specialists will have to deal with routine nuclear energy industry tasks: the establishment of a system to manage radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. Belarusian specialists took a close look at how it is done in Ukraine.

While working at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the Belarusian specialists saw how the power plant personnel work to process radioactive waste and were made familiar with the overall operation of the enterprise. Specialists of the decontamination department of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant shared their knowledge and tricks with the Belarusian colleagues.

Yevgeny Surkov, Head of the Radioactive Waste Processing and Disposal Sector of the Decontamination Department of the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant, noted that specialists of the Belarusian nuclear power plant are busy studying the international experience of a nuclear power plant operating company with regard to the handling of radioactive waste, including at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.

Yevgeny Myadelets, an engineer of the Radioactive Waste Department of the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, said: “We've received comprehensive information starting with the accumulation of radioactive waste and ending with its placement into containers. Ukrainian colleagues were happy to share their experience with us. The experience will come in handy in our future work. We are exceedingly pleased with interaction with the colleagues.”

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast using a Russian design featuring two VVER-1200 reactors with the total output capacity of 2,400MW.