Nuclear oversight division at Belarusian nuclear station construction site by year end

A permanent division of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry will start working at the construction site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant in Ostrovets by the end of 2014, BelTA learned from Oleg Sobolev, Head of the Communications and Public Information Office of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry.

The division to be deployed at the construction site is supposed to comprise about ten people. Accommodation will be provided to the specialists in Ostrovets, said the source. For now they oversee the construction of the nuclear power plant via scheduled and unscheduled inspections.

Oleg Sobolev also said that the future inspectors that the division will employ are getting complete theoretical and practical training. In particular, representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency will be in Belarus on 15-18 July. The IAEA representatives will offer large-scale training to Belarusian specialists with regard to inspections, he remarked. A visit to the Ostrovets construction site is part of the itinerary.

The source pointed out that the rapid development of the Belarusian nuclear program is the main factor driving the rapid growth of the number of personnel employed by the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry. As of 1 July 2013 the Department hired 35 new employees, including 16 university graduates.

An educational seminar focusing on basics of state safety supervision during the construction of a nuclear power plant was held in the National Higher School Institute on 8-9 July for young professionals. The seminar was meant to raise the professional level of oversight efforts during the construction of the nuclear power plant. Specialists of Russian FSUE VO Safety took care of educating Belarusian specialists. Young professionals will apply this knowledge during inspections at the construction site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant.