Union State Nuclear Safety Program to be completed in 2015

The Nuclear and Radiation Safety Program of the Belarus-Russia Union State is set to be completed by the end of 2015, Olga Lugovskaya, Head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor), said during a briefing hosted by BelTA's press center.

“The program is expected to be developed by the end of the next year. Our cooperation with the Russian side is determined by the agreements signed at the government level,” she noted. The program will be a special tool that will help unite the efforts of Belarusian and Russian specialists for the joint resolution of common issues and challenges.

The Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) and the Federal Service for Ecological, Technological and Nuclear Supervision (Rostechnadzor) have recently held a working session in Moscow. The sides discussed further activities to strengthen the bilateral cooperation in 2015. Besides, they agreed on the next steps to develop the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Program of the Belarus-Russia Union State.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built 18km away from the town of Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The BelNPP will have two power-generating units with the total output capacity of up to 2,400MW (2x1,200MW). The Russian merged company OAO NIAEP – ZAO ASE is the general designer and the general contractor of the project. The first power-generating unit of the nuclear power plant is scheduled for launch in 2018, the second one in 2020.