Events

MINSK, 22 May (BelTA) – Belarus’ sixth national report on fulfilling the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management was discussed in the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria on 22 May, representatives of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry told BelTA.

The sixth 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 is in progress in the IAEA HQ. Belarus’ sixth national report was discussed at the session of the country group on 22 May. It was presented by a delegation led by Belarusian Deputy Emergencies Minister Anatoly Dolgolevets. The delegation included specialists of the Emergencies Ministry (the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department aka Gosatomnadzor), the Energy Ministry (the Nuclear Energy Department), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (the energy and nuclear research institute Sosny), and the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant.

The national report lists the installations working with spent fuel and radioactive waste in Belarus, information about the government policy and practices in this field, the legislative framework, and the fulfillment of recommendations after the previous report was delivered. The report contains other information as well. It covers activities and events in 2014-2017.

After reviewing the Belarusian national report, questions and answers to them the country group concluded that Belarus demonstrates directions of successful work as part of the efforts to decommission the Iskra storage facility and review the legislation on radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel management, in particular, by preparing to amend the law on the radiation safety of the population. The proactive stance on using cutting-edge practices, for instance, by inviting an IAEA mission in 2016 to evaluate the regulatory infrastructure and embrace the mission’s recommendations was mentioned.

The mentioned challenges include the actualization of the relevant legislation, the improvement of the safe management of radioactive waste at the special enterprise Ekores, the development of a strategy on spent nuclear fuel of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, the specification and stipulation of Belarusian-Russian agreements on this work.

Results of the work of the country groups will continue to be considered during plenary sessions. The meeting of the contracting parties to the joint convention will end on 1 June.