MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th June, 2023) The site for the disposal of radioactive waste in Belarus has not yet been selected, the deputy director of the nuclear energy department of the Belarusian Energy Ministry, Nikolai Mikhailov, said on Thursday.
"At present, the road map for the implementation of the project for the construction of the waste disposal ground is being prepared by the relevant state authorities. The works have not started yet. It is planned to start the works soon � after the approval of the road map. The site hasn't been chosen yet, it will be determined according to the results of surveys, taking into account public discussions and the results of the environmental impact assessment," Mikhailov, who is also in charge of radioactive waste management at the ministry, told reporters.
He added that the site for the construction of the facility was being considered all over Belarus, but the priority areas are those contaminated after the Chernobyl accident or the area of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP), which will produce over 95% of all nuclear waste in the country.
The official also said that the preliminary stage of work on the creation of the storage facility began with the construction of the BelNPP, as the legal basis has been created. The construction of the storage facility will be handled by the state enterprise for radioactive waste management created this year, he added.
Mikhailov noted that in accordance with the legislation and international obligations of Belarus, public consultations will be held with the Belarusian citizens and the neighboring countries before the construction of the facility.
He said that Belarus will take into account global experience in the construction of the facility, adding that Belarus has studied promising technologies for the construction of a nuclear waste storage facility, which are available in Russia, Hungary, Finland and other countries. At the same time, he noted that the Russian approach is highly appreciated and applicable in Belarus.
The head of the technical support department of the BelNPP, Nadezhda Zdanevich, said that Belarus is developing a decision-making procedure for exporting spent nuclear fuel to Russia for reprocessing.
"A draft decree of the Council of Ministers has been prepared, which would establish authorized organizations to handle the radioactive waste we will receive after reprocessing in Russia, and the decision-making procedure for the Energy Ministry to export spent nuclear fuel for reprocessing in Russia," Zdanevich said.
The BelNPP, also known as the Astravets NPP, is located near Astravets in the Grodno region of northwestern Belarus, near the Belarusian-Lithuanian border. It is powered by two Russian-made VVER-1200 reactors with a total capacity of 2,218 megawatts. The first unit became fully operational in June 2021 and the second in May 2023.
