IAEA follow-up mission head mentions Belarus' adherence to ensuring nuclear safety

MINSK, 13 December (BelTA) – Belarus is dedicated to ensuring nuclear and radiation safety, BelTA learned from Georg Schwarz, a representative of the Swiss Federal Inspectorate for Nuclear Safety (ENSI), head of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) follow-up mission, on 13 December.

Georg Schwarz said: “The mission went very smoothly. We received assistance. We worked very productively and in cooperation with all parties. We highly appreciate the support and hospitality we received. We are satisfied to note that since the original mission Belarus has substantially improved the regulation of nuclear and radiation safety and has demonstrated dedication to maintaining a safety ensuring system in this sphere on a long-term basis. The country has responded to our recommendations and proposals given as a result of the original mission.”

According to Director of Nuclear Installation Safety Division of the International Atomic Energy Agency Anna Bradford, a preliminary report has been put together a result of the follow-up mission. It specifies how the recommendations and proposals given as a result of the original mission were fulfilled, puts forward additional proposals, and mentions the positive practices the mission's experts have identified in order to make them common legacy and allow regulatory bodies of other countries to use them.

Anna Bradford noted: “Results are very inspiring. Belarus has fulfilled 22 out of 25 original recommendations and 18 out of 20 proposals. It demonstrates the country's solid adherence to safety principles.”

Apart from that, two new proposals were prepared due to the country's transition to a new stage – the commercial operation of the Belarusian nuclear power plant.

Belarus hosted an IRRS follow-up mission on 5-13 December. The primary goal of the IRRS follow-up mission was to review the fulfillment of recommendations and proposals of the IRRS mission that visited Belarus in 2016. The IRRS follow-up mission was led by a representative of the Swiss Federal Inspectorate for Nuclear Safety (ENSI) Georg Schwarz. The mission consisted of people representing competent organizations of Greece, Pakistan, Russia, USA, Finland, Switzerland, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Representatives of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor), the state science and technology institution Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center, the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry, the Healthcare Ministry, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs worked with the mission.