Business news

20 Jan 2017

Energy Ministry: Belarus provided SEED mission with all requested information

MINSK, 20 January (BelTA) – Belarus provided the SEED mission with all requested information, Belarusian Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk said at the presentation of the results of the IAEA SEED mission in Belarus on 20 January, BelTA has learned.

“This mission is very important for our country. We provided the IAEA with all the necessary materials ahead of the mission. In the course of the mission, Belarusian and Russian specialists answered all questions from the IAEA experts. We were as open as possible and provided them with all requested information,” Mikhail Mikhadyuk noted.

He pointed out that the SEED mission was conducted following recommendations made after a review of Belarus’ report on the implementation of the Convention on Nuclear Safety and the Espoo Convention. “However, I would like to stress that it is up to the country itself whether to invite a SEED mission, or any other IAEA mission, or not. We submitted a request for a mission in October 2014,” Mikhail Mikhadyuk said.

The Deputy Energy Minister thanked the IAEA Secretariat, the experts, Belarusian and Russian specialists for the important work that they have done when preparing and conducting the SEED mission. He also thanked the experts for the objective assessments.

Belarus hosted a Site and External Events Design (SEED) mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency from 16 to 20 January. The IAEA experts assessed the compliance of the BelNPP construction site with international safety standards and the resilience of the systems, structures and components of the plant to external and internal risks and threats. The experts evaluated the margin of safety envisaged in the design in light of lessons from the Fukushima Daiichi accident. The team that carried out the SEED mission included experts from the United States, Poland, France, Hungary, Turkey and Romania.