Rosatom’s fuel company TVEL has entered into a long-term cooperation agreement with the Belarusian organisation for the management of radioactive waste, BelRAO. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Belarusian Energy Forum in Minsk by the Director of TVEL’s decommissioning programmes, Eduard Nikitin, and the Director of BelRAO, Dmitry Logvin.
Under the agreement, the two sides will cooperate in the establishment and development of infrastructure for the final isolation of radioactive waste (RW) in Belarus, as well as in training personnel for the operation and monitoring of the near surface waste disposal centre (PPZO – pripopverkhnostnovo puncta zakhoronenia otkhodov).
Following construction of its first NPP, Belarus adopted a national Strategy for the Management of Radioactive Waste which includes construction of a radioactive waste disposal facility. Management of RW is the responsibility of BelRAO. TVEL, with overall responsibility in Russia for decommissioning of nuclear and radiation hazardous facilities and radwaste management, consolidates Rosatom’s technologies in these fields and offers them to foreign partners.
“With our partners from BelRAO, we have confirmed our bilateral interest in strengthening ties in a wide range of areas and aim to develop mutually beneficial cooperation, the priority being the management of radioactive waste,” said Nikitin. “The creation of a radioactive waste disposal point for the Belarus NPP will meet the requirements of the Ecological Taxonomy of the European Union and contribute to the sustainability of nuclear energy in the country.” He added that Rosatom was interested in implementing joint projects with Belarus and was ready to share Russia’s expertise in handling radwaste.
Image: The agreement was signed by TVEL’s director of decommissioning programmes, Eduard Nikitin, and the director of BelRAO, Dmitry Logvin (courtesy of TVEL)
