Gosatomnadzor: Priorities and Activity Factors

The Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry intends to start preparing national reports on nuclear and radiation safety as from 2015, BelTA learned from Olga Lugovskaya, Head of the Department, on 22 December.

“We plan to prepare national reports to highlight results of the work done through the year. The reports will uncover all the aspects regarding the state of nuclear and radiation safety in the country. It is a matter of perspective for now but I think we will start doing it soon,” said the official.

According to Olga Lugovskaya, the first report of the kind may be prepared in the near future, possibly next year.

The Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) is a structural unit in charge of taking care of nuclear and radiation safety matters in the country. The department was created in 2007 in accordance with Belarus president decree No. 565 on certain measures regarding the construction of the nuclear power plant.

The international mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit Belarus to assess its nuclear safety regulatory infrastructure in 2016, Olga Lugovskaya, Head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry, said during a briefing hosted by BelTA's press center.

“Belarus invited the IAEA to send an international mission to assess its safety regulatory infrastructure, and the invitation was accepted. The visit will take place in late 2016,” she noted.

The invitation was made during the national report of the Republic of Belarus on the implementation of the Convention on Nuclear Safety in March 2014.

An IAEA mission visited Belarus in 2012 to check if the infrastructure of the country was ready for constructing a nuclear power plant. “The second mission will look into some more specific issues. We expect that it will give us some more concrete requirements and recommendations,” Olga Lugovskaya emphasized.

Belarus is one of the founders of the IAEA. It has a long history of cooperation with the agency. A high-level delegation on nuclear safety culture led by IAEA Deputy Director General Denis Flory visited Minsk on 2 to 3 December. The delegation included representatives of nuclear safety watchdogs from France, Russia, the United States, Vietnam, as well as experts of the IAEA, the Regulatory Cooperation Forum, and the European Commission. The delegation held meetings at the Council of Ministers, the Energy Ministry, and the Emergencies Ministry, and took part in the seminar for government officials involved in the implementation of the Belarusian nuclear energy program and promotion of nuclear safety culture. The visit of the IAEA delegation was initiated by Belarus.

Gosatomnadzor is finishing the examination of documents substantiating the safety of the second power-generating unit of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (BelNPP), head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) Olga Lugovskaya said at a briefing at the BelTA press center.

“At present we are busy examining the documents substantiating the safety of the second power-generating unit during the full cycle of construction works. The process is already nearing completion,” Olga Lugovskaya informed.

The Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant obtained the full license to build the first power-generating unit in April 2014. The documents to get the license were submitted by the BelNPP to Gosatomnadzor in February 2013. In line with the procedure established by the law, the documents substantiating the nuclear and radiation safety of the nuclear power plant were carefully examined. The work was conducted by the United Energy and Nuclear Research Institute Sosny of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. The experts checked whether the construction of the first power-generating unit will be in compliance with Belarusian and Russian nuclear regulations and international recommendations.

Gosatomnadzor experts also checked the organizational and technical capacities of the BelNPP and its compliance with the license requirements and terms.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built near the town of Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast, using the AES-2006 design. The Belarusian nuclear 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.

Gosatomnadzor reveals no major failures during inspection to BelNPP

The recent comprehensive inspection of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (BelNPP) has not revealed any fundamental issues, head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) Olga Lugovskaya told BelTA commenting on some media reports alleging violations during the BelNPP construction.

“There were no major remarks and violations. There are no grounds or reasons to suspend the construction of the nuclear power plant or withdraw the license,” she noted. Olga Lugovskaya said that the remarks voiced during the inspection were accepted and the deadline for eliminating the failures was established. Olga Lugovskaya repeated that the remarks “were not critical or fundamental”.

According to the Gosatomnadzor chief, taking part in the comprehensive inspection were various supervisory bodies. The remarks were documented in the improvement notice. The deadline for removing the defects was established. In fact, all failures should be removed by the start of the second quarter of 2015. “These issues are being addressed as work proceeds; the bulk of remarks has already been addressed. Our major task is to make sure that the recommendations listed in the improvement notice are fulfilled within the established timeframe. I can say that we maintain close cooperation with our operator and we have no critical remarks,” Olga Lugovskaya said.

BelTA reported earlier that the comprehensive inspection of the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant took place on 27 October – 6 November. The inspection involved representatives of government agencies and their structural units, which are in charge of overseeing the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. The number included representatives of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department and the Safe Industrial Practices Department of the Emergencies Ministry, and the State Committee for Standardization. Apart from Belarusian specialists, representatives of the FSUE VO Safety from Russia took part in the inspection as advisors.

The inspection covered several areas concerning the fulfillment of license requirements and conditions by the enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant and the observance of the relevant legislation during the construction of the nuclear power plant. The inspectors looked into measures meant to ensure the safe construction of the second power-generating unit and the first power-generating unit.

Work in progress to improve nuclear safety standards in Belarus

The Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry works to improve safety standards, BelTA learned from Olga Lugovskaya, Head of the Department.

The official said that the process is endless. She went on saying that they understand safety standards as the combination of relations, attitudes, and requirements used on a daily basis. “We oversee the operator and other organizations involved in the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant and should set an example,” said Olga Lugovskaya. According to the source, the Department should establish a smoothly operating management system. Every employee should fulfill all the requirements for the product of their labor and all decisions should be made in the name of safety while ruling out negative consequences. Highly trained personnel are also part of the standards. “All of this indicates that we are working to raise safety standards,” concluded the Head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry.

A high-level delegation led by IAEA Deputy Director General Denis Flory visited Minsk in early December 2014 for the sake of raising nuclear safety standards. Denis Flory spoke highly of the Belarus government’s attention to nuclear safety standards.

A nuclear power plant is under construction 18km away from Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The Belarusian nuclear 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.

Union State Nuclear Safety Program to be completed in 2015

The Nuclear and Radiation Safety Program of the Belarus-Russia Union State is set to be completed by the end of 2015, Olga Lugovskaya, Head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor), said during a briefing hosted by BelTA's press center.

“The program is expected to be developed by the end of the next year. Our cooperation with the Russian side is determined by the agreements signed at the government level,” she noted. The program will be a special tool that will help unite the efforts of Belarusian and Russian specialists for the joint resolution of common issues and challenges.

The Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) and the Federal Service for Ecological, Technological and Nuclear Supervision (Rostechnadzor) have recently held a working session in Moscow. The sides discussed further activities to strengthen the bilateral cooperation in 2015. Besides, they agreed on the next steps to develop the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Program of the Belarus-Russia Union State.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built 18km away from the town of Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The BelNPP 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. The first power-generating unit of the nuclear power plant is scheduled for launch in 2018, the second one in 2020.