Фото: МИД
Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Ihar Siakreta met with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on 5 December.
The two sides exchanged views on key issues of the international agenda, discussed areas of cooperation and efforts to ensure nuclear safety at the regional level.
According to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry’s press service, the deputy minister informed the director general about Belarus’s plans to expand nuclear generation in line with the projected growth in domestic energy consumption, emphasising the country’s interest in further strengthening cooperation with the IAEA at all stages of its nuclear energy programme.
Siakreta drew Grossi’s attention to the recent incident at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuania. He noted Belarus’s “serious concern about the potential transboundary consequences of such events, as well as the lack of prompt notification required under international and bilateral obligations.”
On 25 November, a fire broke out at the primary radioactive waste processing facility at the Ignalina plant. It was extinguished within a few hours. Lithuania stated that radiation levels remained unchanged. Belarus’s Emergency Ministry said it received a reply from the Lithuanian side to its inquiry about the incident only on 30 November.
In his account on social network X, Grossi said the meeting also discussed the issue of small modular reactors.
“The IAEA continues to work closely with Belarus to ensure the safe operation of the Astraviec Nuclear Power Plant and to explore how small modular reactors (SMRs) could make use of the country’s existing nuclear infrastructure,” Grossi said.