Events

27 Jun 2013

Belarus close to main construction phase of nuclear station project

In the near future Belarus intends to tie up legal matters and get down to the main work involved in building the nuclear power plant. The information was released by Director of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Belarusian Energy Ministry Nikolai Grusha in Saint Petersburg, BelTA has learned. A Belarusian delegation arrived in the “northern capital” of Russia for the sake of taking part in the IAEA-sponsored ministerial conference Nuclear Power in the 21st Century and the international forum AtomExpo 2013.

“As far as our readiness to build the Belarusian nuclear station is concerned, the manufacturing base is in the home stretch, preparations are nearly over. As for the start of the main work, I’d like to note that getting the license and getting the design specifications and estimates approved may be done in the next few months,” said Nikolai Grusha. “Once these matters are dealt with, we will be able to get down to building the nuclear power plant proper”.

In his words, Belarus has no problems in cooperation with Russian colleagues in the nuclear industry. “There are day-to-day matters, which are regularly addressed and discussed,” he said.

Speaking about the international forum AtomExpo 2013, which opened in Saint Petersburg, Nikolai Grusha remarked that undoubtedly the Belarusian side was particularly interested in handling the radioactive waste generated not only by nuclear power plants but also other industries.

In turn, while talking to reporters Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Alexander Bychkov praised Belarus. In particular, he said that Belarus-IAEA interaction and communication can be an example for other countries to follow.

“In matters concerning the development of its own nuclear power industry Belarus fulfills all the IAEA recommendations. We don’t see problems in implementing the project to build and launch the Belarusian nuclear power plant,” he added.

The IAEA Deputy Director General also underlined that all the existing top vendors, which build and design nuclear stations, make equipment and take care of safety systems, do their job in a quality fashion.

During multiple meetings and discussions held as part of the conference Nuclear Power in the 21st Century and the international forum AtomExpo 2013 delegates stated that Russia is one of the leaders on the global nuclear power engineering market and the role of the Russian Federation in matters relevant for the development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy has been on the rise recently.

According to Russia Vice Premier Dmitry Rogozin, the Russian Federation offers nuclear technologies that have been tested by many years of practice. “The number of our foreign partners constantly rises. The reliability and safety of Russian nuclear technologies are the key reasons,” said the official.

He also added that in addition to being an important energy project the development of nuclear energy industry and the construction of nuclear stations is viewed by nations as a project of a colossal social and economic effect. Such projects contribute to the development of various spheres like the production sector, education, healthcare, and other ones.