Belarus tightly cooperates with the International Atomic Energy Agency in the area of nuclear power engineering, said Belarusian Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk at the international conference “21st Century Nuclear Technologies” in Minsk on 6 October.

“We understand the responsibility of building a safe power installation and running it safely,” remarked Mikhail Mikhadyuk. “This is why since the day the decision to build the nuclear power plant was made, we’ve been tightly cooperating with the IAEA”.

According to the official, Belarus now has the necessary infrastructure. In line with IAEA recommendations Belarus has completed a self-evaluation of the country’s readiness for carrying out a nuclear energy program this year. The self-evaluation indicated that Belarus is about to complete the second phase. “We hope to complete the second phase by the end of the year,” said Mikhail Mikhadyuk.

As part of the program for Belarus-IAEA technical cooperation this year Belarus will get educational software to train the personnel, who are involved in the nuclear energy program.

In addition, there are several programs for cooperation with the IAEA in several areas. Educational seminars have been held for top executives and state administration bodies.

Mikhail Mikhadyuk remarked that the Energy Ministry, the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and several other interested agencies are putting a lot of efforts into carrying out the program for building the nuclear power plant. The project is a priority one for Belarus not only for the sake of improving the national energy security but also as a new level in the economy development. “We are convinced it will be implemented,” said the official.

In turn, Piotr Vityaz, First Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, said that it was important to observe existing international agreements and legal acts for the sake of promoting nuclear power engineering in the interest of people and the economy. In his words, the interest in nuclear power engineering has considerably risen in recent years. The attitude of the USA, Europe, Belarus, and Russia to this matter has changed. The safety of nuclear power installations has improved considerably. Many countries have reversed their decision not to build nuclear power plants.