IAEA's IPPAS mission chief praises Belarus' attitude to nuclear power plant safety

MINSK, 2 July (BelTA) – The safety and reliability of the Belarusian nuclear power plant are highly prioritized in Belarus, BelTA learned from Joseph Sandoval, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency's International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) mission.

According to the press service of the Belarusian Energy Ministry, the IPPAS mission finished work at the site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant on 1 July. The specialists had been made familiar with materials concerning the operation of the nuclear power plant's physical protection system and had visited various facilities and installations of the nuclear power plant. The specialists will sum up preliminary results of the visit by the end of their mission to Belarus – 9 July.

Wrapping up work at the nuclear power plant site, Joseph Sandoval shared his impressions of the trip to the Belarusian nuclear power plant. “I am very impressed by the importance the Belarusian government attaches to matters of safety and reliability of the nuclear power plant. Our role is to compare and evaluate the practices used in Belarus with regard to the international agreements that we have and then present our recommendations to the government,” he said.

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