Belarus to attend ATOMEXPO 2013 and IAEA conference in St Petersburg

A Belarusian delegation will take part in the fifth international industry forum ATOMEXPO 2013 and the IAEA high-level international conference “Nuclear Energy in the 21st century” that will be held in Saint Petersburg on 26-29 June. The Belarusian delegation will be led by Energy Minister Vladimir Potupchik, BelTA learnt from the Energy Ministry.

The delegation includes representatives of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Energy Ministry, the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Emergencies Ministry, the United Energy and Nuclear Research Institute Sosny of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the department for economic cooperation and sustainable development of the Directorate for Multilateral Diplomacy, the higher learning department of the Education Ministry, the Nuclear Power Plant Construction Directorate, and BelNIPIenergoprom.

Belarus will take part in the Atomexpo 2013 forum and the IAEA conference because the country is implementing a national nuclear energy program and a project to construct a nuclear power plant. To this end, Belarus is establishing the necessary infrastructure, developing the legal framework, running a national personnel training program, and conducting an awareness raising campaign. The nuclear energy program is implemented in strict compliance with the IAEA standards and recommendations using counseling assistance and technical aid of the IAEA. In 2008-2012 Belarus welcomed a great number of IAEA expert missions, including a mission on integrated assessment of the nuclear energy infrastructure. This mission confirmed that the country is ready to construct its first nuclear power plant. Belarus is actively engaged in the international dialogue on peaceful uses of nuclear energy and is interested in the ensuring security and reliability of its nuclear energy facility, the Energy Ministry informed.

A plenary discussion “Nuclear Energy in the 21st century: responsible partnership for sustainable growth” will be held as part of the forum on 26 June. The forum will also showcase achievements of the global nuclear industry leaders across various fields of business, science and manufacturing. The forum is organized by the Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom. The IAEA ministerial conference is arranged by the International Atomic Energy Agency jointly with the Government of Russia.

Taking part in the forum will be over 1,000 delegates from Austria, Germany, Belarus, Hungary, China, the United States, Czechia, France, Japan and other countries. Over 100 companies will showcase their expositions during the forum. Over 100 Russian and foreign journalists will cover the event.