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Belarusian NPP nuclear safety issues remain unresolved

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In the letter of 25th of Маy, 2023 addressed to the Belarusian Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES), which acts in Belarus as nuclear safety regulator, the Lithuanian State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate (VATESI) once again calls to suspend operation of Unit 1 and commissioning of Unit 2 of Belarusian NPP until all safety issues are resolved.

Most of the long-standing issues of ensuring nuclear safety have not been resolved so far. VATESI in the letter to the MES reminded still the lack of specific information of the nuclear power plant site selection and evaluation, NPP equipment resistance to seismic events and to the effects of a large civil aircraft crash, implementation of stress tests recommendations, probabilistic safety assessment, fire hazard analysis and other safety issues. VATESI also requests clarification of the information published in the public domain concerning the contamination of the Unit 2 reactor cooling loop with organic substances, the contamination of the Unit 1 secondary circulation loop with radionuclides, the deficiencies in the fixing of the reactor vessel as well as the detected defects and outstanding work. Belarus is requested to provide information of authorized discharge limits from the power plant units. VATESI also calls on the MES and other responsible Belarusian authorities to publish all international expert mission recommendations and their implementation results and provide additional information, which is necessary for more accurate forecasting of releases during possible accidents.

This letter copies also sent to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the European Commission, the Chairs of the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) and the Western European Nuclear Safety Regulators Association (WENRA).