Belarusian Authorities Lie About Positive Assessment Of Stress-Tests At Belarusian NPP

The problems identified by the ENSREG group at the Astravets nuclear power plant are quite serious.

The security problems revealed during the European examination of the stress tests of the project of the Belarusian nuclear power plant should be fully resolved before the launch of the power plant, representatives of the Belarusian Green Party and the Public Association Ecodom told Charter97.org.

The report of the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) on the examination of stress tests of the Belarusian NPP revealed a number of safety problems of the Russian NPP-2006 project, according to which a nuclear power plant is being built near Astravets.

The report was presented on July 3 in Brussels, and its contents, including conclusions and recommendations to the Belarusian side, were published on July 4 at noon.

We highly appreciate the work carried out by the ENSREG group and the EU representatives during the Euroexpertise of stress tests, as well as the interaction of the Gosatomnadzor with European regulators, because of this, the numerous safety problems of the Russian project of the Belarusian NPP have been defined and formulated.

We are grateful to the ENSREG group for the fact that some of our questions, comments and suggestions were taken into account during the examination. At the same time, we hope that the next stage of the process of stress tests of the Belarusian NPP, namely, the development of the National Action Plan, will be more open to the public, as required by the European rules of stress tests and the Aarhus Convention. We expect that the National Action Plan will be duly discussed with the concerned public.

We believe that the problems of the Belarusian NPP, identified by the ENSREG group in all three areas of stress tests, are serious enough, as each of them can cause a large-scale radiation incident. This, in particular, is insufficient research in the field of seismic stability, questions about the equipment's resistance to earthquakes, inconsistency with modern, post-Fukushima requirements for readiness for blackout and loss of final heat removal, as well as gaps in the management of severe accidents.

These problems, in our deep conviction, should be openly discussed, and then resolved - effectively and in a timely manner, before the commissioning of the first unit. For this, the project documentation of the Belarusian NPP should be amended accordingly.

Most importantly, the Euro examination of the stress tests of the Belarusian NPP showed that the NPP-2006 project was developed in accordance with the old, Russian, pre-Fukushima standards that do not correspond to the current approaches of the IAEA and the Association of European Organizations in the field of nuclear regulation WENRA. At the same time, the transboundary nature of the project of the Belarusian NPP and its geographical proximity to the borders of the EU requires its compliance with modern standards.

Taking into account the above, we urge the Gosatomnazdor and the Belarusian authorities:

• to refrain from public statements that stress tests allegedly confirmed the safety of the Belarusian nuclear power plant and the conformity of this power station with European standards, as both are untrue facts;

• take all necessary measures within the stress test procedure to include in the National Action Plan all the ENSREG recommendations, as well as measures for their implementation, and also to discuss the National Action Plan with the public;

• before all identified security problems are discussed with the public and resolved, do not issue a license to operate the first power unit of the Belarusian NPP.