Construction of radioactive waste burial facility in Belarus explained

Natalya Gurnovich said: “A lot of work was done in 2023 to form the radioactive waste management infrastructure. A plan of the main organizational measures to build the radioactive waste burial facility was approved in September 2023. Our strategy provides for creating a centralized storage facility. This is why the relevant plan is needed. An interagency working group has been established to coordinate the fulfillment of this plan. It includes 41 representatives of government agencies and organizations.”

In her words, in order to ensure safety in the course of choosing the radioactive waste burial facility, Gosatomnadzor worked out norms and rules as well as guidelines on nuclear and radiation safety in 2023.

The main guidelines on implementing the unified state policy in the field of ensuring nuclear and radiation safety were approved in August 2023. This document introduced the term “nuclear legacy objects”. “In accordance with approaches practiced by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the label applies to facilities where nuclear materials and nuclear technologies have been previously used as well as territories that have been affected as a result of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant,” the official noted.

Interaction with experts from the Russian Federation was also stepped up last year. “We went to places where radioactive waste is managed. We stepped up interaction with the main expert body of [the Federal Environmental, Industrial and Nuclear Supervision Service of Russia] Rostechnadzor. A lot of work was done in this field. Meanwhile, we’ve been doing as much work this year,” Natalya Gurnovich pointed out.