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MINSK, 18 July (BelTA) – The Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF) will update the plan designed to help Belarus implement its nuclear energy program. The relevant matters were discussed as top RCF officials met with representatives of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor), BelTA has learned.

RCF Chair, Deputy Director General of the French nuclear industry regulator ASN Jean-Luc Lachaume and IAEA Senior Officer for Nuclear Safety Stewart Magruder discussed the development of the regulatory infrastructure in Belarus in view of the implementation of the country’s first nuclear energy program. Avenues and priorities of providing RCF support to the Belarusian regulatory agency were reviewed.

The Belarusian side informed the RCF delegation about progress in developing the nuclear regulatory infrastructure, including results of the IAEA mission, which visited the country in October 2016 to evaluate the regulatory infrastructure. Representatives of the Regulatory Cooperation Forum informed the Belarusian side about current RCF efforts to step up the coordination of support for the development of the regulatory infrastructure in Belarus. The sides discussed the improvement of effectiveness of the support provided to Gosatomnadzor. Prospective measures for updating the RCF action plan for Belarus in 2017 were determined.

Representatives of the Regulatory Cooperation Forum visited the Belarusian nuclear power plant construction site near Ostrovets where they were made familiar with the operation of Gosatomnadzor’s division in charge of continuously overseeing the construction operation. They were also made familiar with progress in building the nuclear power plant, the operation of the education and training center with its full-scale control room simulator and the information center of the nuclear power plant.

The Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF) was established in 2010 in response to the IAEA member states’ need for a platform for coordinating the assistance provided by countries with a developed nuclear industry for building the regulatory infrastructure in the countries, which are about to begin their own nuclear programs. The RCF comprises 26 countries. Belarus joined the organization in 2012 and receives its assistance along with Vietnam, Jordan, Poland, Ghana, and Morocco. The RCF’s action plan for Belarus was formulated in 2014.