Belarusian, Russian experts discuss Union State nuclear safety programs

MINSK, 29 November (BelTA) – Experts from Belarus and Russia have discussed the development of nuclear safety programs of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, BelTA learned from the press service of Rosatom's TVEL Fuel Company. The company is also the industry's integrator in charge of decommissioning nuclear and radiation-hazardous installations and of managing radioactive waste.

According to the source, Rosatom specialists met with Belarusian colleagues for consultations about the development of Union State programs in the field of management of radioactive waste, nuclear and radiation safety. In particular, a joint proposal is in development on working out technical solutions, which will allow minimizing the volume of waste that is subject to final isolation. As part of the work there are plans to create a body of calculations and experiments to prove the long-term safety of radioactive waste burial sites. A digital model of a radioactive waste burial site will be developed in order to properly manage the operation of the facility during its lifecycle. Personnel will be trained for the operating organizations, the TVEL Fuel Company press service said.

Apart from that, within the framework of the Union State of Belarus and Russia plans have been made to work out a separate program geared towards developing a proprietary technological base for making ionizing radiation detection systems.

The realization of measures and projects of the Union State program will allow working out a template solution, which will help substantiate and choose the site for building a radioactive waste burial facility both in Belarus and in other countries, which need one, while taking into account international approaches, said Eduard Nikitin, TVEL Fuel Company's director for decommissioning nuclear and radiation-hazardous installations and for managing radioactive waste.

First Deputy Head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) Leonid Dedul noted that it will be necessary to choose a site in Belarus to build a radioactive waste burial facility as early as 2025 in order to begin building it by 2028-2029. “The first stage of the Belarusian radioactive waste burial facility is supposed to be commissioned in 2030. The work will be completed using results of execution of Union State programs among other things and with assistance of Russian specialists. Rosatom and the CIS base organization provide maximum support to us,” Leonid Dedul stressed.

The consultations were organized by Rosatom's TVEL Fuel Company at premises of Rosatom's Technical Academy with assistance of Giredmet Company and a number of enterprises and organizations of the Russian nuclear industry. Belarus was represented by representatives of the national energy company Belenergo, the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor), and Belarusian Radioactive Waste Management Organization (BelRAO). As a result of the consultations the parties sketched out further steps to work out joint proposals on two Union State programs.