Expert: Spent nuclear fuel is a valuable resource

There are still many misperceptions in the general public as far as nuclear energy industry is concerned. They are often caused by the lack of knowledge about the real state of affairs. Many people still do not understand that spent nuclear fuel represents a valuable resource that can be reused in nuclear energy industry, production sector, healthcare, and scientific research, BelTA learned from Viktor Maksimkin, Candidate of Science (Engineering), Associate Professor at the Smolensk branch of the Russian university MPEI, director of the power engineering industry personnel retraining center Energetik. The expert said that the technology of handling radioactive waste is constantly evolving. The Smolensk nuclear power plant is an example of progressive attitude to the matter. The processes the power plant utilizes guarantee 100% safety for the power plant’s personnel, people living in the area, and the environment. Some people want compensations for living within 30km from the Smolensk nuclear power plant. But compensations are usually paid for damage to health. There is no damage from the fact that the nuclear power plant is nearby because even state-of-the-art equipment does not register any unnatural amounts of radioactive elements in water, soil, and plants.

The Smolensk nuclear power plant practices an open-door policy. Public hearings are an example of that. Any person can get familiar with the manufacturing processes not only via documents and mass media but by visiting the nuclear power plant in person. Those, who take a close look at the nuclear power plant, become convinced of the high safety technologies and spread the truth to their families and friends instead of idle gossip.