/ / News
25.01.2012

Belarus increases participation in international scientific nuclear projects

MINSK, 25 January (BelTA) - Belarus extends participation in international scientific projects on peaceful nuclear energy, said Anna Kievitskaya, Acting General Director of the Energy and Nuclear Research Institute Sosny of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB).

When asked whether the cooperation of the institute with international organizations has been affected by the U.S. sanctions, Anna Kievitskaya noted that the institute has not been hurt by the sanctions. “The U.S. sanctions do not affect us. We cooperate with all our partners. We have signed about five international treaties in the field of peaceful nuclear energy,” she said.

The head of the Institute recalled that Belarus had cooperated with the United States under a technical assistance program which involved the removal of highly enriched uranium out of the country. The highly enriched fuel removed under this program to Russia was replaced with low-enriched uranium which we now use for scientific purposes in our Giatsint facility” she said.

A big contributor to international cooperation is the Yalina sub-critical facility created at the Sosny institute. This is the only facility of a kind in Europe. It is used to examine new-generation nuclear power installations – sub-critical facilities. Specialists from leading nuclear centers in Sweden, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the United States and the IAEA come to Belarus to participate in the theoretical and experimental projects at the Yalina facility. All in all, experts from 18 countries have taken part in projected done at the Belarusian facility.

NASB technologies spark both scientific and practical interest among foreign scientific centers. For instance, Japanese experts are currently involved in the project to develop technologies to treat liquid radioactive waste. The Belarusian experience and practices are due to be used in the project.

The NASB Energy and Nuclear Research Institute Sosny is a legal successor of Nuclear Energy Institute of the BSSR Academy of Sciences founded in 1965. The institute implements state scientific and sci-tech programs. It is an umbrella organization in the implementation of the program “Nuclear and Physical Technologies for the National Economy of Belarus”.