Belarusian NPP safety problems remain unresolved
In the letter of 22 of September, 2026 addressed to the Belarusian Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES), which acts in Belarus as nuclear and radiation safety regulator, the Lithuanian Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate (VATESI) once again emphasized that selecting the site in Ostrovets for the Belarusian nuclear power plant Belarus failed to comply with IAEA safety standards and did not assess population density and distribution in accordance with those standards. According to the requirements, such an assessment was required to be performed for the whole region, including the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
About one-third of Lithuania’s population lives in this region. From the very beginning of the Belarusian nuclear power plant project, the site selection and assessment have been fundamental safety issue raised by Lithuania.
“The Ostrovets site has not been properly assessed. We are not receiving responses from Belarus based on specific actions taken or planned to ensure and improve safety. The safety concerns raised by Lithuania remain unaddressed, while Belarus plans to build another power unit at the Ostrovets site,” says Michail Demčenko, Head of VATESI.
VATESI noted that it is still expecting answers to the safety issues it has raised regarding the selection and evaluation of the site, NPP equipment resistance to seismic events and to the effects of a large civil aircraft crash, implementation of stress tests recommendations, probabilistic safety assessment, fire hazard analysis, review of the safety analysis report and other safety issues. It is also requested to specify the technical reasons for the unplanned shutdowns of power units at Belarusian nuclear power plant and their impact on safety, to provide information on the use of other countries’ operational experience and safety improvements, and on planned IAEA safety assessment missions.
This letter copies also sent to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), European Commission, Chairs of the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) and Western European Nuclear Safety Regulators Association (WENRA).