This Strategy was developed as part of the fulfillment of obligations under the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management dated September 5, 1997 to formulate and implement the state policy in the field of SNF management of Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant.
The strategy provides for key organizational issues for the creation and implementation of a national SNF management system, the main areas of scientific, technical and practical activity of the participants in the treatment process, a phased, adaptive, based on the consent of the actors involved in the treatment process, approach to the final stage of the nuclear fuel cycle.
As a result of the implementation of this Strategy:
basic elements and organizational legal mechanisms of public administration in the field of SNF management will be formed;
effective protection of people, society as a whole and the environment from the potential impact of SNF radionuclides and the ionizing radiation generated by them at all stages of SNF management will be ensured;
maintenance of a socially acceptable level of safety and prevention, prevention, mitigation of the consequences of accidents at any stage of SNF management will be provided;
consistent implementation of the basic safety principles when handling SNF will be implemented within the framework of international obligations of the Republic of Belarus;
mechanisms for staffing and financial support for the safe handling of spent nuclear fuel of the Belarusian NPP and the resulting RW will be developed and implemented;
physical protection of nuclear materials and maintenance of their non-proliferation regime will be provided.
The strategy notes that the preferred option for handling spent nuclear fuel of Belarusian NPP is its processing in Russia with the return to Belarus of waste included in a glass-like matrix containing radionuclides of the cesium-strontium fraction, with the exception of long-lived radionuclides. Such reprocessing should be carried out after intermediate storage of spent nuclear fuel in the territories of Belarus and (or) the Russian Federation.
Currently, mechanisms are being developed to form the funds of Belarusian NPP in order to fully accumulate in these funds the required amount for the handling of nuclear fuel and radioactive waste (RW) by the end of its commercial life.
As a priority measure for the implementation of the Strategy, an agreement will be developed and concluded between the Government of the Republic of Belarus and the Government of the Russian Federation on cooperation in the management of spent nuclear fuel of Belarusian NPP.
