MINSK, 4 December (BelTA) – An international pre-insurance engineering inspection has been carried out at the site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, BelTA learned from the website of the Russian insurance group SOGAZ.
The main purpose of the inspection was to evaluate current insurance risks in the work of the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant in the course of preparing to receive a fresh batch of nuclear fuel. The storage facility was examined as well as the operational readiness to handle nuclear fuel, examine the fuel on arrival, and transport it into the reactor building of the first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant.
The inspection was arranged by SOGAZ in association with an observer from the Swiss Pool for the Insurance of Nuclear Risks and representatives of Belarus' top three insurance companies – Belgosstrakh, Eximgarant of Belarus, and the Belarusian National Reinsurance Organization. Representatives of the general contractor – the Russian company Atomstroyexport – were also present.
The experts praised the nuclear power plant design and nuclear and radiation safeguards. They also came up with several observations, which will be used to later formulate recommendations on reducing insurance risks inherent in running the nuclear power plant.
The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built using a Russian design featuring VVER-1200 reactors near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2019, with the second one to go online in 2020.
