BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/06/2007

Belarus can build and safely operate nuclear power plant

MINSK, June 26 (Itar-Tass) -- Belarus has conditions for the construction and safe operation of a nuclear power plant, Andrei Malyshev, the deputy head of the Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom), said in Minsk on Tuesday. He participates in the 9th meeting of the CIS member states commission for peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

He said Belarus has good cites for the construction of a nuclear power plant, water sources for cooling and a favourable geological structure. There are also certified researchers and technologists in the republic who, with adequate training, could tackle problems of the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant. The country has production facilities to be used in the construction of such a plant.

"The existence of research and design organizations and production facilities shows that there are suitable conditions for the construction of a nuclear power plant and its safe operation," Malyshev said.

"We will be very glad to give assistance to the fraternal republic in the construction of a nuclear power plant," he said. However, the question of Russia's specific contribution, technologically and financially, will become clear when there is the official decision of the Belarussian side on the plant's construction and the terms on which it will be built, he said.

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11664794&PageNum=0