No complaints during inspections of BelNPP

No complaints were made during the integrated inspections of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP), head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department at the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) Olga Lugovskaya said during the briefing “Nuclear and Radiation Safety in Belarus: International and National Evaluation” hosted by BelTA's press center on 17 June.

“As for the permanent supervision at the BelNPP, we constantly verify the compliance with the requirements put forward after the previous inspections. The plant fulfills all the requirements within the established time frames. Until now we have received no complaints,” Olga Lugovskaya stressed.

In her words, many organizations are involved in the construction of the BelNPP, so there are some matters that do not fall within Gosatomnadzor’s competence. “There were some complaints related to the construction works in general, like for example the preparation of documents. However, all these remarks are not repetitive. After every inspection, we draw up a report and submit it to the operating organization. Some of the problems are fixed during the same inspection,” Olga Lugovskaya noted.

The first integrated inspection of safety measures taken during the construction of the first and second power-generating units of the BelNPP was held from 12 to 29 May. The inspection was led by Gosatomnadzor's First Deputy Head Leonid Rydlevsky with the participation of divisions of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry, the State Committee for Standardization, the Healthcare Ministry, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, the Energy Ministry, the Interior Ministry, and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. Russian specialists from the federal state unitary enterprise Safety took part in the inspection in the capacity of consultants.

Gosatomnadzor prepared and presented to the enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant an inspection report and a list of instructions. BelNPP's compliance with these instructions will be strictly monitored.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built near Ostrovets. The BelNPP will have two power-generating units with the total output capacity of up to 2,400MW (2x1,200MW). The first power-generating unit of the nuclear power plant is scheduled for launch in 2018, the second one in 2020.