Science-based Approach

The main tasks of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) in the field of nuclear and radiation safety are the realization of state policy, the implementation of state supervision, control, permitting and other special functions, coordination of the activities of other republican authorities and other organizations.

To implement these tasks, the Department for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (Gosatomnadzor) was established by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of November 12, 2007 No. 565 within the structure of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

One of the functions of Gosatomnadzor is the organization of research to substantiate the principles and criteria of nuclear and radiation safety, increase the effectiveness of state supervision in the field of nuclear and radiation safety in the use of atomic energy and sources of ionizing radiation.

Gosatomnadzor has the right to attract scientific organizations, scientists and specialists, including foreign ones, to conduct research.

In 2016, in connection with the implementation of the Belarusian NPP construction project and in accordance with the provisions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) documents, a system of scientific and technical support was created for the national authority for nuclear and radiation safety of the Republic of Belarus (MES).

The Decree of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of December 2, 2016 No. 991 approved the list of the following 16 expert organizations  to provide scientific and technical support to the MES in the field of nuclear and radiation safety:

1.     State Scientific Institution "The Joint Institute for Power and Nuclear Research – Sosny" of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (scientific institution "JIPNR-Sosny", http://sosny.bas-net.by/), which is the licensee for safety expertise in the use of atomic energy.

2.     State Scientific Institution "Institute of Powder Metallurgy" (http://pminstitute.by/)

3.     State Scientific Institution "Institute of Applied Physics» of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (http://iaph.bas-net.by/).

4.     State Scientific Institution «A.V. Luikov Heat and Mass Transfer InstituteЭ of the national academy of sciences of Belarus  (http://www.itmo.by/).

5.     State Institution "Center for Geophysical Monitoring of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus" (http://cgm.org.by/).

6.     State Institution "Republican Center for Hydrometeorology, Control of Radioactive Pollution and Environmental Monitoring" (http://rad.org.by/).

7.     State educational institution "University of Civil Protection of the Ministry for Emergency Situations of Belarus" (http://ucp.by/).

8.     Establishment "Research Institute of Fire Safety and Emergency Issues" of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (http://niipb.mchs.gov.by/).

9.     Republican Research Unitary Enterprise “Istitute of Radiology" (http://rir.by/).

10.   Belarusian State University (http://bsu.by/).

11.    Educational establishment “International Sakharov Environmental Institute of the Belarusian State University” (http://www.iseu.bsu.by/).

12.    "Institute for Nuclear Problem of the Belarusian State University” (http://www.inp.bsu.by/).

13.     State Educational Institution "Republican Institute of Higher Education" (http://nihe.bsu.by/).

14.     “Belarusian National Technical University” (http://www.bntu.by/).

15.     “Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics” (http://www.bsuir.by/).

16.     “Belarusian-Russian University” (http://bru.by/).

In order to organize and coordinate scientific and technical support of activities in the field of nuclear and radiation safety, the State Scientific Technical Institution Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (CNRS) was created by Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of 5 October 2017 No. 361.

The activities of CNRS are aimed at:

• implementation of applied scientific, technical, analytical and experimental work aimed at the scientific and technical support of the activities of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the field of nuclear and radiation safety;

• solving scientific and technical problems to increase the effectiveness of state supervision in the field of ensuring nuclear and radiation safety in the use of atomic energy and sources of ionizing radiation;

• providing scientific support in organizing and directly participating in safety reviews in the field of the use of nuclear energy and ionizing radiation sources.

Organization and implementation of scientific and technical support for nuclear and radiation safety regulation, including the analysis and justification of criteria and requirements of such safety, carrying out research works on increase of efficiency of the state regulation in the field of nuclear and radiation safety of objects of use of atomic energy, and also implementation of safety assessment in the field of atomic energy use and ionizing radiation sources is performed according to acts of the legislation.

To clarify the areas of work on scientific and technical support, in 2018, Gosatomnadzor signed agreements on cooperation with:

• « Republican Institute of Higher Education » (http://nihe.bsu.by/);

• «Institute of Nuclear Problems» of Belarusian State University (http://www.inp.bsu.by/);

• «A.V. Luikov Heat and Mass Transfer Institute of the national academy of sciences of Belarus» (http://www.itmo.by/).

Preparation of agreements with all the 16 organizations is ongoing.

At present, Gosatomnadzor focuses its efforts on carrying out scientific research related to modeling the processes occurring in the power unit of the Belarusian NPP using computer codes and developing methodology, including the use of differentiated and risk-informed approaches in safety regulation.

Scientific research in the field of nuclear and radiation safety is provided for by activities of subprogram 6, “Scientific support for the development of nuclear energy in the Republic of Belarus” of the State program “Science-intensive technologies and equipment” for 2016–2020, approved by the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus on April 21, 2016. No. 327. One of the customers of subprogramme 6 is the Ministry of Emergency Situations (together with the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the Ministry of Energy).

In order to take into account international experience, Gosatomnadzor attracts the expert potential of the organizations of scientific and technical support of Rostekhnadzor (Russian Federation) (FBU “SEC NRS”, JSC “VO“ Safety ”), Germany (GRS), France (IRSN) and Finland.

Scientific and technical support is also provided by the European Commission through international technical assistance projects aimed at assisting the Belarusian regulatory authority in the field of nuclear and radiation safety.