Belarus: Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste
Developments
See also
Facility 97045, the only radioactive waste storage
facility in Belarus.
6/10/2003: REPORT ON CESIUM SEIZURES
In the first five months of 2003, the Belarusian State Security
Committee (KGB) seized two containers of cesium-137, Vechernyy Minsk
reported on 10 June 2003. KGB
Chairman Leonid Yerin noted the seizures in a report to Belarusian President
Aleksandr Lukashenko on seizures of
illegal materials made by
the security agency between January and May 2003. The report did not
disclose any
details about the two containers, but they are probably the same ones that were
reported on by RIA Novosti on 13 February 2003. (For details, see abstract
20030190 in the
NIS Nuclear Trafficking
database.) ["Doklad predsedatelya KGB Aleksandru Lukashenko," Vechernyy Minsk,
10 June 2003; in Integrum Techno,
http://www.integrum.ru.]
{Entered 12/12/2003 CC}
10/28/97: BELARUS
WILL CREATE A STRATEGY TO MANAGE ITS NUCLEAR WASTE Chairman of the Industrial
Atomic Energy Inspectorate Vladimir Yatsevich told Interfax that Belarus
is currently planning a national strategy to manage its radioactive waste.
Belarus currently accumulates nearly eight metric tons of radioactive waste
each year from various industries, scientific laboratories, and medical
research departments. The Sosny Institute of Power Engineering Problems
is the only specialized facility in Belarus which stores radioactive waste,
and as of 28 October 1997, its disposal facilities were at 85 percent capacity
(it can hold a total of 1660 cubic meters of waste). The government
has proposed nearly 2 billion Belarusian rubles (about $67,000) to upgrade
the facility. A special project has been planned with the IAEA to
upgrade the storage facility according to international standards.
In addition to Sosny, there are 77 other sites in Belarus which have been
accumulating about 30,000 metric tons of waste annually from the Chornobyl
accident cleanup.
[Interfax, 28 October 1997;
in "Belarus Develops Strategy To Handle Radioactive Waste," FBIS-TEN-97-301.]
{entered 2/9/98 djw}
8/96: SOVIET NUCLEAR WASTE SITE DISCOVERED The Belarusian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental
Protection located an undocumented waste site at a former Soviet military
base in the Kolasava settlement of the Stawbtsowski region. The officials
found radioactively contaminated equipment, but did not find any paperwork
concerning how effectively the waste was buried. The Belarusian Ministry
of Defense plans to build a new site for the waste at an approximate cost
of 30 million rubles. It is unclear if Russia will help finance the project.
[RADIO MINSK NETWORK, 8/6/96, in "Nuclear Waste Site
Discovered at Former Military Base," FBIS-TEN-96-009.] {Entered 2/13/97,
Mew}
3/20/96:IPEP COORDINATING NUCLEAR WASTE PROJECT The Institute of Power Engineering Problems is currently
coordinating a project between Belarus, the IAEA, and Sweden to deal with
all radioactive waste, including that from a future nuclear power station.
Under the auspices of this project, money is being disbursed for equipment,
training, travel, and for consultations by Western experts. The program
will be completed by 12/96.
[CISNP Discussions With Belarusian nuclear official, 3/20/96.]
11/95:SEVENTY-THREE RADIOACTIVE STORAGE SITES
IN BELARUS There are 73 storage sites in
eight administrative regions for radioactive waste associated with the
Chornobyl disaster. Only 4 of these sites have equipment that meets scientific
safety standards. It is estimated that 700 million rubles are needed
to properly equip the waste storage system.
[CISNP Discussions with Belarusian official, 10/95.]
4/95: WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITY PLANNED FOR FUTURE BELARUS
NPP Belarus has been planning
for future nuclear waste management. If Belarus decides to purchase a Western
nuclear reactor, there are plans to create a 50-year interim waste disposal
facility on the site of the proposed nuclear plant. Final or permanent
disposal would be decided at the end of the 50 years. But if Belarus decides
to purchase a Russian reactor, it will attempt to send nuclear waste to
one of the reprocessing facilities in Russia, such as Krasnoyarsk-26. This
issue will be discussed at future Belarus-Russia negotiations. Belarus
would like reshipment to be a condition for the selection of a Russian
project. This could be a potential problem, as Russia
is refusing to accept spent fuel from Ignalina and from reactors in Ukraine.
[CISNP discussions with Belarusian nuclear official, 4/95.]
1/94: INSUFFICIENT NUMBER OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
IN BELARUS Aleksandr Grebenkov, head of a laboratory at IPEP, stated
that the problem of radioactive waste remains one of the most troublesome
for Belarus. There is a "burial ground" in Minsk that was specially built
for this purpose and is thus safe, but, since the demise of the Soviet
Union, it is no longer sufficient. Previously, Belarus shipped all of its
Chernobyl-related nuclear waste to the scientific and industrial amalgamation
"Pripyat" in Ukraine. Now, Ukraine refuses to accept foreign radioactive
waste. New stationary burial sites are planned for several locations, including
the Gomel Oblast, near Khatki; these new sites would comply with international
standards.
["Official Interviewed On Construction of Waste Burial
Sites," JPRS-TND-93-003, 1/31/94, pp. 25-26.]
11/93:DECOMMISSIONED NUCLEAR WEAPONS STORAGE SITE
FOR LEASE A decommissioned nuclear ammunition dump in Bobrusk, Belarus,
was handed over to city authorities. The dump is an autonomous complex
of under- and above-ground facilities including military barracks, a club,
a canteen, a sauna, a boiler-house, and stadium. The city community services
and local commercial enterprises have refused to lease it.
[ITAR-TASS, 11/19/93; in "Unique Nuclear Ammunition Dump
Mothballed," JPRS-TND-93-038, 12/29/93, p. 50.]
See also