Belarusian-Russian agreement on spent nuclear fuel ratified by parliament's upper chamber

MINSK, 19 April (BelTA) – The Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus has passed a bill on ratifying the agreement between the government of the Republic of Belarus and the government of the Russian Federation on cooperation in the management of spent nuclear fuel, BelTA has learned.

The bill was developed for the sake of ratifying the agreement between the government of the Republic of Belarus and the government of the Russian Federation on cooperation in the management of spent nuclear fuel. The agreement was signed in Sochi on 21 November 2022.

The agreement regulates the import of irradiated fuel rod arrays of nuclear reactors into the Russian Federation for temporary technological storage and consequent processing followed by the return of radioactive waste to the Republic of Belarus.

Licenses (permits) will be required for cooperation within the framework of the agreement. The agreement specifies competent bodies: the Energy Ministry in Belarus and the state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom in Russia. The competent bodies are supposed to appoint the relevant authorized organizations.