5 march 2021, 12:05

The European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group approved the preliminary report on the Belarusian Ostrovets NPP

Lithuania and Belarus have been in conflict for a long time over the launch of a new nuclear power plant in Ostrovets.

Brussels,March 5 - Neftegaz.RU. The European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) has approved the preliminary report on the peer review of the new Belarusian nuclear power plant in Ostrovets.
Adopted by consensus on 3 March, this report follows a mission by ENSREG technical experts to the site carried out on 9 and 10 February, 2021.

The preliminary report reviews the measures implemented by Belarus with regard to 7 issues and related recommendations from the 2018 ENSREG stress test report, which were identified as a priority by the peer review team.
The preliminary report concludes that, based on the information made available and the site visit, progress has been made in implementing all recommendations related to the 7 priority issues.

The adoption of this report brings to a close the 1^st phase of the ongoing peer review.
The 2^nd phase will cover all the other recommendations and will include another ENSREG experts’ visit to the NPP as soon as the pandemic situation has improved.
The final report of the peer review will be completed and published based on an analysis of the progress on remaining recommendations.

The EU methodology for stress tests was developed in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011.
Since 2011, Belarus is participating in the process on a voluntary basis.

The controversial nuclear plant in Belarus, built by Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, began operating last November despite strong opposition from Lithuania.
The neighboring country says that the Belarusian NPP built near its border and just 50 km away from Vilnius fails to meet international nuclear power requirements.
Russia’s Rosatom, which built the plant, has rejected the Lithuanian complaints, saying the plant’s design conforms to the highest international standards.

At the debate in February, Members of the European Parliament voiced serious concerns over the safety of the Ostrovets NPP and demanded that its commercial launch be suspended.

For Belarus, it's a source of pride.

This is the country’s 1^st NPP; it is being built in the Belarusian town of Ostrovets and is based on a Russian 3+ generation design.

The 2.4-GW power plant - built with Russian money and supervision - will lessen that nation’s dependence on Moscow for energy.