Gosatomnadzor hails discussion of Belarus National Report with Lithuania as constructive

The discussion with Lithuania of the 5th Belarus National Report on the implementation of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management at the IAEA headquarters was constructive, Grigory Astashko, Deputy Head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department (Gosatomnadzor) at the Emergencies Ministry of Belarus, told the press briefing at the BelTA press center.

The review meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management was held at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna in May, with participation of 60 countries.

According to the IAEA established procedure, in the course of the preparation for the meeting, national reports are subject to the peer review. A total of 69 questions were submitted in the course of the peer review of Belarus National Report. The greatest interest in the document was shown by Germany, Lithuania, the United States, Ukraine, France and South Africa.

Belarus received 14 questions from Lithuania. "The Belarus-Lithuania discussion was very constructive, and we too had the opportunity to ask Lithuania our questions," said Grigory Astashko.

The questions were mainly about the legislative and regulatory infrastructure, activities of the special-purpose enterprise ECORES, the Chernobyl waste treatment system, the safety of the radioactive waste storage facilities at the Soviet Union military units, and the waste treatment strategy for the Belarusian nuclear power plant. Detailed answers were given to each of the questions. In addition, another 10 additional questions were asked during the meeting at the IAEA headquarters. Detailed responses were given to each of the questions.

Particular interest was shown in the treatment of spent nuclear fuel of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, including its possible return, the terms of the approval of the BelNPP radioactive waste management strategy (to date, the strategy has been approved by the Government, at the time of the meeting document was under consideration).