MINSK, 22 April (BelTA) – Belarus and the Russian state nuclear industry corporation Rosatom will work out a roadmap to guide the advancement of cooperation in the management of radioactive waste. The relevant agreement was reached as a Belarusian delegation led by Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk visited Rosatom enterprises in Novouralsk, Sverdlovsk Oblast and Sosnovy Bor, Leningrad Oblast, Russia on 20-22 April, the Energy Ministry press service told BelTA.

The Belarusian delegation included representatives of the Energy Ministry, the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor), and the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. They visited Urals Electrochemical Combine of Rosatom’s TVEL Fuel Company, the Leningrad division of the Federal Environmental Operator, and a radioactive waste isolation site of the National Operator for Radioactive Waste Management where they were made familiar with Russian experience in the area of radioactive waste storage, processing, and utilization.

Mikhail Mikhadyuk said: “Thanks to interaction with Russian partners we already have a preliminary concept for handling radioactive waste in Belarus. Now we have to evaluate the available technologies, reconcile approaches, and prepare a roadmap of the joint work we will have to do.”

During negotiations the sides discussed the creation of a national operator for managing radioactive waste in Belarus, personnel training, reviewed the main directions of interaction in improving the legislation on radioactive waste management. Apart from that, cooperation in non-nuclear areas was mentioned, including additive technologies and production of energy accumulators.

AO TVEL Fuel Company is part of the Russian state nuclear industry corporation Rosatom and is the Russian nuclear industry’s only company in charge of decommissioning nuclear installations and managing nuclear waste.