Radioactive waste burial site to be chosen in Belarus within 1-1.5 years

MINSK, 2 May (BelTA) – The site for building the facility for burying radioactive waste has to be chosen within 1-1.5 years. Head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) Olga Lugovskaya mentioned it on the air of the Belarusian TV channel STV, BelTA has learned.

Olga Lugovskaya said: “The site is supposed to be chosen within the next year or a year and a half. The potential locations can be next to the nuclear power plant or in radioactive pollution zones, including the [Polesie state radiation and ecology] reserve.”

In her words, the technical design specification for carrying out the relevant work is being developed now. “The work to choose the site has to be done soon,” Olga Lugovskaya said. She added that public hearings will be organized in accordance with the legislation.

Olga Lugovskaya reminded that the government passed a resolution in February 2023 to approve a strategy on managing radioactive waste, including waste generated by the nuclear power plant and by other sources. The radioactive waste storage facility is supposed to be established within ten years since the operation of the nuclear power plant began.

“So far we've developed the legal framework, which specifies requirements for the site where such a storage facility can be set up and respectively requirements for how this process should be organized,” the official noted.