Belarus gearing up to build radioactive waste storage facility

Director of the Belarusian Radioactive Waste Management Organization Dmitry Logvin told the media on the sidelines of the Atomexpo International Forum in Sochi on 26 March how Belarus was preparing for the construction of a radioactive waste storage facility, BelTA has learned. Belarus is planning to build a site for the collection, storage, sorting, processing and disposal of radioactive waste. “As for the choice of the site, we are examining the whole territory of the country. Work has been done to study stock materials, archival data. We have excluded some parts of the country where it is impossible to locate the site. There are two main areas that we are considering. The first one is the main source of radioactive waste generation, i.e. the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (BelNPP). The second one is the territory of the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve, i.e. alienated lands that are not involved in economic turnover. We are carrying out complex engineering surveys, which will help us choose a site. We are not yet ready to say where exactly the site will be located. This work is still in progress,” Dmitry Logvin said. According to him, the complex surveys are carried out under the auspices of Belnipienergoprom, the enterprise is engaged in the support of pre-project and design works. The Energy and Nuclear Research Institute Sosny of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus is engaged in scientific support (determination of the radioactive waste volume, packaging issues, research of physical barriers to be used at the plant). “We also involve Russias in the work. We need consultations, recommendations, including on technological aspects,” Dmitry Logvin added. According to Eduard Nikitin, TVEL decommissioning programs director, the Belarusian colleagues will be supported at all stages of construction and operation of the radioactive waste storage facility. “Colleagues seek to solve the problem with the minimum necessary means, and moreover they want to solve it in a exemplary way, using digital, robotic solutions. The innovations of the Belarusian project will be useful for Russia as well,” he said. “As for the site selection, we provide assistance by consolidating everyone - the Russian scientific community and Rostechnadzor, involving experts for independent assessment. Secondly, we show the technologies that Rosatom has. We are ready to implement and even pilot our best solutions in Belarus,” the TVEL representative said. In addition, the staff for the radioactive waste storage facility in Belarus will be trained with the assistance of Rosatom. The corresponding roadmap was signed by the Belarusian Radioactive Waste Management Organization and Rosatom’s TVEL Fuel Company on the sidelines of Atomexpo on 25 March. The Atomexpo International Forum is the largest exhibition and business platform to discuss the current state of the nuclear industry and set further development trends. The forum is attended by heads of key companies of the international nuclear industry, government agencies, international and public organizations, and leading experts. A delegation from Belarus is taking part in the event.