BY3.01/13 Support and assistance to strengthen the capabilities of the Belarusian Nuclear Regulatory Authority MES/Gosatomnadzor in the field of licensing and supervision

In July 2006, the government of the Republic of Belarus decided to consider the possibility of introducing nuclear power into the national energy development plan. This implied the creation of a sustainable national infrastructure that would provide governmental, legal, regulatory, technological, human and industrial support for the nuclear programme throughout its implementation. In 2008 Belarus decided to embark on the construction of a nuclear power plant (NPP) with two units having a total generating capacity of 2000 MW electric. Later Ostrovets, located in Grodno region about 25 km from the Republic of Lithuania had been selected as the site for the Belarusian NPP.  The construction of Unit 1 started in November 2013.

In Belarus, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority is the Ministry for Emergency Situations (MES). The MES structure includes the Department for nuclear and radiation safety (Gosatomnadzor). MES/Gosatomnadzor is responsible for regulatory and licensing activities in the area of nuclear and radiation safety. MES/Gosatomnadzor carries out most of the regulatory functions in this field as the Nuclear Regulatory Authority. Gosatomnadzor participates in the licensing process and conducts the supervision of all types of nuclear facilities and radiation sources including their treatment, transport, storage and disposal.

The EU under the INSC aims to promote the safe operation of a nuclear facility via strengthening appropriate Nuclear Regulatory Bodies and their technical support organisations. The safe utilisation of nuclear energy requires a nuclear safety infrastructure defined at governmental level. An appropriately organized, independent and sound Nuclear Regulatory Authority with a well-defined role, responsibilities, functions and resources is one of the key-elements of such an infrastructure.

The project provided training in regulatory activities and approaches to the personnel of Gosatomnadzor and its technical support. It assisted in the development of the capacities of Gosatomnadzor and its functions and technical capabilities, also related to licensing support.

The project had the following specific objectives:

• Regulatory support to Gosatomnadzor in the regulatory activities related to the submission of a license application for the planned NPP.
• Enhance the technical, management and regulatory capabilities of Belarusian experts to enable them to perform state-of-the-art reviews and assessment of nuclear activities, including the use of accident analysis codes.
• Support MES in reviewing the overall emergency preparedness plan taking into account all relevant national and international organisations and to provide recommendations to improve the design of the emergency organisation.
• Help MES/Gosatomnadzor and/or its Technical Support Organisation (TSO) in the application of mobile radiation monitoring

The project consisted of five components (A-E). The results of these components are briefly summarised below.

COMPONENT A: REGULATORY ASSISTANCE / TSO SUPPORT

The assistance provided has resulted in improved organisation and management system of the regulatory body, and in improved regulatory and legislative framework.

The trainings have resulted in improved capacity to carry out 1) independent assessment and reviews of nuclear safety for regulatory purposes, 2) inspections on safety relevant systems, structures and components during the construction process of the NPP, and 3) regulatory review of Probabilistic Safety Assessment.

Direct support was given in assessment and review of licensing documentation, specifically the Safety Assessment Report, and to manufacturing and construction activities.

The knowledge of international activities in the nuclear regulatory field has been enhanced through MEA/Gostatomnadzor’s participation in international conferences.

COMPONENT B: DEVELOPMENT OF A RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT AND SPENT FUEL MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR BELARUS, TOGETHER WITH THE REGULATOR, OPERATOR AND LEGISLATOR

A detailed assessment of the current situation regarding the legal matters and available institutional framework was provided. This description should be the basis for the development of a comprehensive regulatory approach in the area of safety of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and radioactive waste (RAW) management.

Regulatory review and supervision of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste management at Belarusian NPP, based on best practice, resulted in enhanced knowledge of regulating RAW and SNF management activities.

The regulatory control in management of historical radioactive waste, including disposed unconditioned radioactive waste repositories, was also improved.

COMPONENT C: SUPPORT TO ENHANCE TECHNICAL EXPERTISE CAPABILITIES

Trainings on several safety evaluation codes were provided. The focus was especially on ATHLET code, but initial training courses were also provided on codes to model NPP ventilation systems, to analyse criticality issues and reactivity-initiated accidents and to calculate the composition change of materials subjected to neutron irradiation. The trainings resulted in a consolidated applicable knowledge of MES/ Gosatomnadzor and its technical support staff to conduct accident analyses.

COMPONENT D: EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

The result of this component was an improved road map for emergency preparedness for Belarus considering the new built NPP. It was recommended to continue further improvements of various aspects of the Belarusian emergency preparedness and response in a future project.

COMPONENT E: MOBILE RADIATION MONITORING

This component provided staff training to use a mobile radiation laboratory, which had been delivered in a separate project. The mobile laboratory can be used in the radiation survey of territories.