Supervision in the Stages of Design and Construction of the NPP

The implementation of state supervision in the field of nuclear and radiation safety (hereinafter referred to as State supervision) in relation to the Belarusian NPP is regulated by the provisions of:

Law of the Republic of Belarus dated October 10, 2022 No. 208-Z “On regulation of safety in the use of atomic energy”;

Regulations on state supervision in the field of nuclear and radiation safety, approved by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated 08/21/2020 N 497 (as amended on 10/09/2023);

local legal acts of Gosatomnadzor.

State supervision at the site is carried out by state nuclear and radiation safety inspectors from Gosatomnadzor. Approaches to the implementation of state supervision comply with international principles enshrined in the documents of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

State supervision is carried out in the following forms:

conducting scheduled and unscheduled inspections;

carrying out inspections under constant supervision;

systematic observation and analysis of compliance with legislation on nuclear and radiation safety;

implementation of preventive and precautionary measures.

Scheduled inspections are carried out on the basis of annual plans. The management of the State Enterprise "Belarusian NPP" is notified about such inspections in advance, in order to ensure the possibility of preparing the necessary documents on the issues under consideration.

Unscheduled inspections may be ordered on the following grounds:

information received from government bodies and other organizations, foreign states or individuals, indicating an ongoing (committed) violation of the legislation on nuclear and radiation safety or facts of a threat of causing or causing harm to the life and health of citizens, the environment, state security, etc;

the need for a prompt assessment of the actual state of the NPP equipment or the activities onsite;

identification of causes and conditions that may promote violations of regulatory requirements;

unavailability in Regulatory body of the information on fixing previously identified violations within two working days from the date of expiration of the established period for their fixing.

A feature of inspections in the continuous supervision regime is the need for a prompt assessment of the actual compliance of NPP equipment and activity with the safety requirements.

Systematic observation and analysis of compliance with legislation on nuclear and radiation safety by the State Enterprise “Belarusian NPP” (hereinafter referred to as systematic observation) is carried out by Gosatomnadzor through the analysis of information received to us both from the Belarusian NPP itself and from any government agency (organization) or citizen. In addition, as part of systematic observation process, the results of inspections and the implementation of previously proposed preventive and precautionary measures are analyzed. Systematic observation differs from inspections in that it does not require a direct visit to the site - assessments of compliance with nuclear and radiation safety requirements are performed by Gosatomnadzor inspectors through analysis of organizational and technical solutions set out in incoming documents. If necessary, regulatory body have possibility to force NPP to take correction measures before the implementation of such solutions onsite.

Preventive work is the main component of supervisory activities at the NPP site, as it is aimed at timely identification of conditions that contribute to the occurrence of violations of nuclear and radiation safety requirements and their prevention.

The supervision model built by Gosatomnadzor is essentially preventive in nature. Thus, most inspections by Gosatomnadzor are carried out before starting exact work on the technological equipment of power units significant to safety – in order to timely identify possible potential violations. Without eliminating the identified inconsistencies during such inspections, further work is not permitted.

A significant part of the work is aimed at direct interaction with plant officials during work meetings at various levels, participation of Gosatomnadzor inspectors in the work of internal commissions of the State Enterprise "Belarusian NPP" to assess the knowledge of personnel, certify welders, conduct tests, procedures of safety significant equipment registration (one of the form of conformity assessment), etc.

In addition, Gosatomnadzor has examined technical solutions are being developed at nuclear power plants in relation to technological equipment of systems ышптшашсфте to safety, welding technology, changes in the organizational structure of the plant and other decisions that can directly or indirectly affect the level of nuclear and radiation safety. Without the consent of Gosatomnadzor, such decisions are not allowed to be implemented.

Key positions of the State Enterprise "Belarusian NPP" (station management, operational personnel, heads of key departments, etc.) are required to obtain personal permits from Gosatomnadzor before performing their official duties. The procedure for obtaining such permits involves conducting a knowledge assessment by the Gosatomnadzor commission.

Local legal acts of Gosatomnadzor establish other methods of carrying out preventive work.

In 2020-2021 with the participation of international experts, Gosatomnadzor has developed (and it is currently implemented) the Basic Supervision Program during the operation phase of nuclear power plants. The document was approved by Gosatomnadzor`s order No. 88 on 03/12/2021 and updated by order No. 59 on 26/12/2023, taking into account the experience of the program during the operation of unit 1 of the NPP.

The Basic Supervision Program includes 4 thematic areas (“Nuclear Power Plant Safety”, “Leadership and Management for Safety”, “Radiation safety”, “Physical Protection and Safeguards”) and 10 thematic areas for supervision:

“NPP project management”;

“ operational safety and operating experience”;

"radiation safety";

“radioactive waste management”;

“emergency preparedness and response”;

"physical protection";

“accounting and control of nuclear materials”;

“management for safety”;

“safety culture and leadership”;

"personnel training system".

For each of the thematic issues, detailed supervision programs have been developed, which define specific supervisory activities and their frequency for assessing the issue.

To carry out supervisory activities directly at the Belarusian NPP site, the Gosatomnadzors department with a staff of 6 people has been created and is functioning. In addition, a significant part of the employees of the central office of Gosatomnadzor ensures the implementation of the above supervisory activities from the central office in Minsk, if necessary, visiting the site of the Belarusian NPP during business trips.

An analysis of the results of supervisory activities at the Belarusian NPP site, both during construction and commissioning, and during the operation of power units, shows that the implemented supervision model, coupled with the internal control systems of the operating organization (Belarusian NPP State Enterprise), generally ensures the timely identification of inconsistencies without their development into potential gross violations of nuclear and radiation safety requirements. The nature of the inconsistencies identified by Gosatomnadzor, the dynamics and methods for eliminating them, indicate the absence of systemic problems in ensuring nuclear and radiation safety at the NPP site. The state of nuclear and radiation safety is assessed as meeting the established requirements.