The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is conducting scheduled inspections at the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant and at the Joint Institute for Power and Nuclear Research Sosny of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB), the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) told BelTA.
“Belarus is welcoming the IAEA’s regular scheduled inspection in line with the Agreement for the Application of Safeguards in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Gosatomnadzor organizes and accompanies the inspections. On 23 June, IAEA inspectors are conducting an inspection at the Belarusian NPP, and on 24 June – at the Sosny institute. The program includes physical inventory of nuclear material, maintenance of IAEA surveillance and containment systems, and verification of reporting documentation,” Gosatomnadzor said.
Belarus and the IAEA signed the Agreement for the Application of Safeguards on 14 April 1995. Represented by Gosatomnadzor, the Emergencies Ministry is the competent authority of the state safeguards system in Belarus. Among other things Gosatomnadzor is responsible for organizing IAEA inspections and providing support for them.
The IAEA safeguards are an integral part of the international safety system and represent a complex of technical measures that are applied to nuclear facilities and nuclear material used by states. The International Atomic Energy Agency seeks to independently verify that a state honors its legal obligation, which is not to misuse nuclear installations and not to divert nuclear material from peaceful uses to the production of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. States agree to the application of these measures by means of concluding the safeguards agreements.
