Belarusian, Russian nuclear industry watchdogs to step up cooperation in 2015

The Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) and the Federal Environmental, Industrial and Nuclear Supervision Service of Russia (Rostechnadzor) intend to step up cooperation in 2015, BelTA learned from Gosatomnadzor’s Communications and Public Information Office after the two agencies held a working conference in Moscow.

During the conference representatives of the Belarusian and Russian agencies discussed steps to bolster cooperation in 2015, said the source.

Apart from that, the sides reached an agreement on the next actions for putting together the Union State program on nuclear and radiation security. The program will be an instrument to consolidate efforts of specialists of the two countries for the sake of addressing common issues and tasks, stated the Gosatomnadzor representatives.

The Belarusian delegation was led by Gosatomnadzor head Olga Lugovskaya. The conference tabled a large number of matters of bilateral cooperation in the area of nuclear and radiation safety. The role and functions of the regulating body in emergency response processes were discussed. The composition of consultation services provided by FSUE VO Safety (the technical support organization of Rostechnadzor) to the Belarusian agency as part of oversight over the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant was specified.

The source pointed out that interaction between the Belarusian and Russian nuclear and radiation safety regulating agencies has been developing consistently and dynamically. In December 2013 an agreement was signed between the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry and Rostechnadzor. In 2014 joint projects were accomplished, including comprehensive examinations of the Belarusian nuclear power plant construction project. Specialists of the Belarusian agency received training in Minsk. Representatives of the Belarusian agency observed a comprehensive inspection of the construction of the second Leningrad nuclear power plant, which uses the same design that the Belarusian nuclear power plant uses. The sides also cooperated in overseeing the manufacturing of equipment for the Belarusian nuclear power plant by Russian enterprises.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is a project to build an AES-2006 type nuclear power plant 18km away from Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The power plant will have two power-generating units with the total output capacity of up to 2,400MW (2x1,200MW). The Russian merged company OAO NIAEP – ZAO ASE is the general designer and the general contractor of the project. In line with the general contract for building the nuclear power plant the first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2018, with the second one to go online in 2020.