The Belarusian government has approved a national strategy for the management of spent nuclear fuel from the future operation of the two-unit Belarussian nuclear power station, state news agency Belta reported.
According to the reports, spent fuel will be processed in Russia and the vitrified highly radioactive residuals shipped back to Belarus in a vitrified form for long-term storage.
Earlier reports have said Belarus had been preparing to sign a deal with Russia on the management of spent nuclear fuel not later than 2020.
According to the reports, spent fuel will be processed in Russia and the vitrified highly radioactive residuals shipped back to Belarus in a vitrified form for long-term storage.
Earlier reports have said Belarus had been preparing to sign a deal with Russia on the management of spent nuclear fuel not later than 2020.
Belta said repository facilities will need to be built in Belarus before it could start receiving reprocessed spent fuel from Russia.
The government’s strategy foresees the construction of an intermediate storage for spent fuel in 2028, Belta said.
According to Belta, the overall cost of the various options for managing spent nuclear fuel is estimated at between $2.5bn and $3.5bn over the course of operation of the Belarusian nuclear power plant.
There are two 1,109-MW Russian VVER-1200 pressurised water reactor units under construction at the Ostrovets site near the Belarusian border with Lithuania. Commercial operation is expected in 2019 and 2020.
