On 3 March 2021, preliminary peer review report on the implementation of the stress test recommenda-
tions of the Belarusian NPP was discussed and approved at the regular meeting of the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG).
ENSREG recalls that a stress test exercise remains a targeted process reviewing the safety of certain aspects of a nuclear power plant (NPP) with the objective of enhancement of safety. Stress test and the implementation of follow-up actions should not be used to justify or authorise the safe operation of NPP. In the European Union countries, the safety of nuclear power plants is assessed taking into account all modern safety requirements.
The peer review has the aim to evaluate the content and status of implementation of the Belarus National Action Plan (NAcP) that was published by Belarus in August 2019 following the ENSREG stress test report of July 2018.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the peer review of the Belarus NAcP has been divided into two phases. In the first phase, experts reviewed safety recommendations in seven areas and provided their conclusions. A total of 29 recommendations were proposed to Belarus, of which only 8 have been partially implemented.
ENSREG members underlines the safety significance of all safety recommendations and encourages Belarus to continue working on them to ensure and enhance the safety of Belarusian NPP in a timely manner. A full scope peer review of the implementation of the safety recommendations will be carried out during the second phase in 2021, with the preparation of the final peer review report on the implementation of the ENSREG safety recommendations at the Belarusian NPP.
“This is a common ENSREG and EC principle that implementation of the recommendations provided in the stress test report shall not be used to validate or authorize the operational safety of the Belarusian NPP. All the recommendations made in the stress test report are important and must be urgently implemented in order to strengthen the safety of the Belarusian NPP. As the implementation of most of the recommendations could not be assessed by EU experts at this phase due to the pandemic situation, the second phase of reviewing the implementation of the stress test report recommendations should be organized as soon as possible”, – pointed out during the meeting by Michail Demčenko, Head of VATESI.
It was also underlined that stress tests only partly cover the modern international safety requirements, and even this part has not been fully implemented by Belarus. These latest international safety requirements should be understood as a package of contemporary IAEA Safety Standards, Vienna Nuclear Safety Declaration, both EU directives – Nuclear Safety and Radioactive Waste Management, WENRA SRLs for existing reactors and Safety Objectives for new NPPs. From the very beginning of the implementation of the Belarusian NPP project and even more strongly after the Fukushima nuclear accident Lithuania was and still is of the opinion that the whole package of modern safety requirements shall be unconditionally implemented. Currently that means that the operation of the Belarusian NPP Unit 1 shall be suspended until all the above-mentioned safety requirements are properly addressed.
At the ENSREG meeting Lithuania was represented by Michail Demčenko, Head of VATESI and Sigitas Šlepavičius, Deputy Head for General Nuclear Safety Matters.
The peer review documents for the implementation of the stress test recommendations of the Belarusian NPP are published on the ENSREG website www.ensreg.eu.
