IAEA's Integrated Regulatory Review Service mission to work in Belarus on 5-13 December

MINSK, 6 October (BelTA) – The International Atomic Energy Agency's post-mission of the Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) will work in Belarus on 5-13 December, Natalya Danilenko, Head of the International Cooperation Department of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor), said in BelTA's press center on 6 October.

The official said that an IRRS mission took place in 2016 and covered ten thematic modules as well as a number of additional fields Belarus had requested as a nuclear energy newcomer country. Those included global safety, management system of the regulatory body, licensing, oversight, safety evaluation, emergency preparedness and response, and other matters. The 2016 mission provided recommendations and proposals. As a result Belarus worked out a national action plan, which included over 70 measures. They cover all the aspects of regulatory activities from the improvement of the legal base and the development of licensing procedures to interaction with the general public.

Belarus is getting ready to welcome an IRRS post-mission at the end of the year. The experts are not going to evaluate thematic modules of the regulation system anew. They will evaluate and see how much progress Belarus has secured in fulfilling recommendations of the previous mission. They will also look at how measures specified by the national action plan are being realized. “We've already started preparations for the post-mission. We've prepared a self-evaluation, put together a package of materials and sent it to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The experts are expected to visit Belarus on 5-13 December. The team will be led by a representative of the Swiss regulatory agency,” the Gosatomnadzor representative noted.