Belarus working to implement national action plan in wake of nuclear power plant stress tests

MINSK, 9 April (BelTA) – Belarus has already implemented four measures out of the 23 ones specified by the national action plan based on results of the stress tests of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, BelTA learned from Olga Lugovskaya, Head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor).

The official said: “So far out of the 23 measures specified by the national action plan four measures have been fulfilled, two are being actively implemented, decisions are being made on another two, and one more measure relating to regular reports is constantly fulfilled.”

In particular, the Geophysical Monitoring Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus has examined the nature of the Gudogai seismic event of 1908. Results of the work were forwarded to the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant for the sake of further implementation of the plan. Now it is necessary to update the catalogue of seismicity in the Belarusian nuclear power plant area.

A line and a stationary connection point for connecting a mobile diesel generator to the first unit of the nuclear power plant have been installed. The diesel generator itself is going through a receipt inspection at the construction site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. The generator is supposed to provide power if stationary sources of power fail. The state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant has prepared and is carrying out an action program to design and introduce symptom-oriented emergency procedures.

Olga Lugovskaya reminded that the national action plan stipulates measures designed to bolster the safety margin of the Belarusian nuclear power plant with regard to unfavorable external natural phenomena (earthquakes, floods, extreme weather) and their combinations.

The national action plan takes into account recommendations issued in the wake of the peer review conducted by experts of the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) in 2017-2018 and results of the domestic analysis carried out before the peer review.