CIS states draft 2030 nuclear energy cooperation program

MINSK, 20 November (BelTA) – The CIS participating states have drafted a nuclear energy cooperation program that will run till 2030, Belarus' Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk told reporters prior to the session of the CIS Commission on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy on 20 November, BelTA has learned.

“Two framework documents regulating the work of the commission are expiring in 2020. This is a framework cooperation program in peaceful uses of nuclear energy for the period of 2020 “Cooperation ATOM-CIS” and the action plan to implement it. Experts have drafted new documents governing the work of the commission in the period till 2025 and in the long-term perspective till 2030,” Mikhail Mikhadyuk said.

The participants of the session are to visit the Belarusian nuclear power plant on 21 November. They will tour the construction site, the information center, the training center and the town of Ostrovets. According to Mikhail Mikhadyuk, Belarus is ready to openly share its expertise and knowledge in implementing a nuclear energy program, after all, more CIS states are now willing to have their own nuclear power plant. Among them is Uzbekistan.

Rosatom Deputy Director General Nikolai Spassky noted that the Commission on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy is one of the most active and efficient bodies of the CIS. According to him, one of the most important objectives is ratification of the CIS agreement on nuclear emergency preparedness and response and nuclear accident and incident assistance. The first three countries to ratify the document were Belarus, Russia and Uzbekistan.

“Other topics on the agenda are approval of the action plan to implement the agreement. It involves development of a notification system, harmonization of technical documents, parameters of response teams, in other words, some very practical aspects,” he added.

The participants of the session are to study ten issues. They will take stock of the implementation of the protocol agreements of the previous session, discuss new documents on cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy for the nearest decade that were drafted by international working groups of the commission and review progress in implementing joint projects.