The expert group comprises 9 people who are the representatives of Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, Lithuania, Ukraine, Finland. The team is led by the Director General of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland (STUK) Petteri Tiippana.
Experts will work at the Belarusian NPP site on February 9-10. They will visit the plant's facilities, familiarize themselves with the documents containing the information concerning the implementation of the actions under the National Action Plan following the results of the stress tests, and will also have an opportunity to interview the representatives of the Gosatomnadzor, the Department of Nuclear Energy of the Ministry of Energy, the project designers from ASE EC JSC, as well as the specialists of the nuclear power plant.
In 2016-2018, Belarus voluntary underwent stress tests of the Belarusian NPP according to the EU methodology. During the stress tests, the presence of "safety margin" beyond the requirements established by national legislation was evaluated. Stress test criteria included the verification of the nuclear power plant reliability in the event of natural disasters, in particular earthquakes and floods, as well as various technological accidents. In addition, the possible risks caused by human factors were analyzed. As a result, no safety deficiencies were identified at the NPP.
Based on the results of the stress tests, the national regulator – the Gosatomnadzor - developed a National Action Plan, which summarizes both the recommendations from the national assessment, and the recommendations of the European peer review experts. The document contains 23 items with a deadline for their implementation from 2019 to 2025. Some of the recommendations have already been implemented, including the supplied additional safety systems and equipment.
