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Grossi comments on Belarus’ role in ensuring safety of Kursk NPP, Zaporozhye NPP
MINSK, 1 October (BelTA) — Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi explained whether Belarus could help ensure the safety of Kursk NPP and Zaporozhye NPP, BelTA has learned.
The IAEA head said that the agency’s specialists are currently working at Zaporozhye NPP. “First of all, we need support for our actions from all IAEA member states. Belarus is a very important member of the agency, so the support of our actions, including from Belarus, is extremely important,” Rafael Grossi said. According to him, in the future, when the situation stabilizes and the peaceful settlement starts, Belarus and the agency “will be able to take a more active part in joint work to resolve existing problems”.
Speaking about the steps the IAEA would like to see on the part of Belarus in terms of regional nuclear safety, the IAEA chief emphasized that it should be, first of all, close cooperation of Belarus and BelNPP itself with the IAEA, strict consistent implementation of all recommendations and ensuring all necessary conditions. According to him, this will give a signal to both neighboring countries and states in other parts of the world that Belarus is a reliable partner which fulfills all the necessary recommendations and implements all the necessary measures to ensure nuclear safety.
Rafael Grossi was asked about the situation at Ignalina NPP in Lithuania and the country’s plans to build a site for spent nuclear fuel and waste. Belarus is concerned about the actions of neighboring Lithuania. The country denied access of Belarusian specialists to Ignalina NPP to monitor the situation and also announced its plans to build a nuclear dump.
“Certainly, we are aware of Belarus’ concerns and those of Lithuania about the situation in Belarus. In this regard, it is necessary to have such an organization as the IAEA, which would provide an objective approach and assessment of what is really happening, based not on political preferences but on the expertise and expert knowledge. Such approaches could be offered as a solution to the disputes that exist between the countries,” Rafael Grossi replied.