IRRS Follow UP mission has started in Belarus

Belarus is hosting the IAEA Follow Up mission on Integrated Regulatory Review of Nuclear and Radiation Safety Infrastructure (IRRS Follow Up mission) from December 5 to 13, 2021. The IRRS Follow Up mission is led by Georg Schwarz from the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI). The team of experts includes representatives from Finland, Greece, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Switzerland and the United States. The task of the Follow Up mission is to review the implementation of the recommendations and proposals of the IRRS mission, which took place in the Republic of Belarus in October 2016.

On December 6, 2021, the opening meeting was held with the participation of experts of the Follow Up mission and representatives of the Belarusian state authorities and organizations.

In his welcoming speech, Deputy Minister for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus Mr. Anatoly Dolgolevets noted that the Ministry for Emergency Situations approaches its tasks with the highest responsibility, including those related to regulatory activities in the field of nuclear and radiation safety, which are carried out by Gosatomnadzor. Five years ago, the IRRS mission stated that Belarus has a regulatory infrastructure for nuclear and radiation safety in place and that our country demonstrates a high commitment to the international principles of nuclear and radiation safety. Recommendations and suggestions of the mission became a basis for steps to further improve the regulatory infrastructure of the Republic of Belarus and its components. Mr. Anatoliy Dolgolevets thanked the IAEA representatives, as well as the Belarusian participants, for the great preparatory work that had begun long before the Follow Up mission, which made it possible to approach it in full readiness.

In turn, the Head of the mission Mr. Georg Schwartz noted that the experts of the mission were looking forward to it. Belarus took an important step in the summer of 2021 by commissioning Power Unit 1 of the Belarusian NPP. The country was developing its regulatory infrastructure accordingly. Belarus has requested all the key IAEA review missions recommended to nuclear newcomer countries. The IRRS mission is one of the most complex, it is comprehensive and complicated. The experts managed to prepare well for the Follow Up IRRS mission, including due to the materials prepared and sent in advance by the Belarusian side.

During the opening meeting, the Head of Gosatomnadzor Ms. Olga Lugovskaya made a presentation on the development of the regulatory infrastructure in the field of nuclear and radiation safety in the Republic of Belarus with an emphasis on the changes that have taken place since 2016, including those related to the implementation of the proposals and recommendations of the IRRS mission. Among them:

- improvement of the regulatory legal framework (the new Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Radiation Safety", which entered into force in 2020, the draft Law of the Republic of Belarus "On the Regulation of Safety in the Use of Atomic Energy" currently being developed, resolutions of the Government, Technical Normative Legal Acts);

- improvement of the licensing and supervisory procedures;

- development of the technical support system for the regulatory body;

- preparation and holding of the public hearings before making important regulatory decisions (the first regulatory public hearings were held on April 30, 2021, before the issuance of a license to operate Unit 1 of the Belarusian NPP) and others.

During the week, experts of the Follow Up mission will interview the Belarusian leaders on the directions (modules) of the mission, will visit the site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant on December 7, 2021, will prepare and discuss with the Belarusian side a draft report.

The preliminary results of the Follow Up mission will be summarized on December 13, 2021.