Authorised European experts are coming to Belarus within the framework of the peer review of the Belarusian NPP stress tests results (announcement)

From March 12 to March 16, 2018, a team of experts authorized by The European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) will be working in Belarus within the scope of the peer review of the National Report of the Republic of Belarus on safety reassessment (stress tests) of the Belarusian NPP. Mark Foy, a representative of The Office for Nuclear Regulation of Great Britain heads the team of seventeen experts from European nuclear safety regulators. Representatives of the IAEA, the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran will take part as observers. During the visit, the experts will specify and discuss with the Belarusian specialists the information from the National Report, visit the construction site of the Belarusian NPP in Ostrovets, prepare a draft of the report on the peer review.

Information:

Stress tests are a one-time unscheduled safety reassessment of the NPP in order to check its ability to resist extreme external nature effects and their combinations: earthquakes, flooding, extreme weather conditions, etc.

Within the framework of the Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Risk and Safety Assessments of Nuclear Power Plants of the EU and its Neighbouring Countries, the Republic of Belarus voluntarily pledged to conduct stress tests of the Belarusian NPP according to the procedure of the European Union.

In 2016, the RUE “Belarusian NPP” conducted a self-assessment, the results of which were presented in the Report on Targeted Safety Reassessment of the Belarusian NPP.

On the basis of the Report and under the supervision of the Department for Nuclear and Radiation Safety of the MES of the Republic of Belarus (Gosatomnadzor), an interministerial work group including the representatives of the Ministry of Nature, the Ministry of Health, the National Science Academy, the RUE “Belarusian NPP” prepared the National Report on the Stress Tests of the Belarusian NPP. The work on the document was finalized in September 2017. The major conclusions of the National Report are the following:

- safety systems of the Belarusian NPP were designed with account of comprehensively analysed external events;

- the buildings, constructions and equipment of the Belarusian NPP were designed according to the current normative base;

- there is a safety margin.

According to the voluntarily assumed liabilities, the Republic of Belarus translated the National Report into English and, at the end of October 2017, handed it over to the European Commission for conducting a peer review according to the Practical Arrangements agreed upon by the parties.

The document was put out in the open in Russian – on the website of Gosatomnadzor www.gosatomnadzor.gov.by, an in English – on the website of ENSREG http://www.ensreg.eu. At the same time, there was made a public announcement of the National Report and its handover to the European Commission (see BELTA press-conference material).

The key involved organisations of the peer review are:

- on the part of the European Union

the group of the European nuclear safety regulators ENSREG represented by the authorised Board on the Peer Review (5 members) and the experts on conducting the peer review (17 experts);

- on the Belarusian part:

the regulator on nuclear and radiation safety – the MES, represented by Gosatomnadzor, alongside with the state administrative bodies and organisations which participated in preparing the National Report.

Before their visit to the Republic of Belarus, the European experts have studied the National Report on the stress tests of the Belarusian NPP and put questions to it. The Belarusian party gave answers to them.

During their visit, including their visit to the construction site of the Belarusian NPP, the experts will hold additional discussions to make necessary specifications before preparing a draft of the report on the peer review.

In future, the work on the report will continue. Its final version is planned to be presented in June 2018 in Minsk during the visit to Belarus of the Board on the Peer Review.

Additional information can be acquired from the head of the Sub-Division of Communication and Public Information Oleg Sobolev, tel. (8-017) 200-92-16.

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