Belarusian Energy Minister claims nuclear power plant project complies with all safety standards


nsnbc : Belarusian Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk claimed that the Belarusian nuclear power plant project complies with all safety requirements. The statement was made during a “tour for the press”. Mikhadyuk’s claim may, of course, be valid, but it would be a fallacy to claim that compliance with safety standards makes nuclear power safe.

Belarus_BelNPP_NPP_2017The Belarusian Deputy Energy Minister, during a media tour dedicated to Russian – Belarusian interaction in nuclear energy said the nuclear power plant (NPP) project complies with all safety standards. He added that:

“Our top priority when building and operating the NPP is safety. … We are fully aware of our responsibility towards the Belarusian nation and the global community.  We ensure safety at all stages of the projects implementation.”

Mikhadyuk claimed that “numerous cutting edge systems that guarantee the BelNPP’s safe operation” are make an integral part of the Generation III+ AES 2006 design. As of today WER-1200 is the most powerful reactor that has three advantages, he said. High efficiency, a long service life, and safety. He didn’t go into technical details about any of these three features.

The BelNPP operators are trained at a training center in Ostrovets and undertake internships in Russia. The NPP is built using the Russian Generation III+ AES 2006 design. It is being built in Ostrovets in Grodno Oblast (region). The first reactor is scheduled for commissioning in 2019 with the second reactor expected to go online in 2020.

What Mikhadyuk didn’t mention during his “tour for the press” was that compliance with safety standards doesn’t necessarily mean that something is inherently safe. The plans for the NPP, technical, financial, environmental or otherwise, don’t factor in the decommissioning of the plant. Also missing in the “plan” are feasible plans how to safely store “spent fuel” and other highly radioactive and toxic “waste”. Some of this waste will have to be stored away – isolated from contact with the environment, for “tens of thousands of years”.

To put this into perspective – with belarus being a predominantly Christian country – Jesus Christ was reportedly born 2019 years before the first reactor is scheduled to go online. Some of the waste will have to be completely isolated from the environment for 40,000 years. The last major Ice Age, when much of Belarus was covered by glaciation, ended about 11,700 years ago and a new one will be coming long before hell freezes over. With regard to Mikhadyuk’s “tour for the press”, this newspaper hasn’t been impressed by the Belarusian “plan” or “safety standards”.

CH/L – nsnbc 24.08.2017



Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/08/24/85736/

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