During 14-18 October the Chornobyl NPP’s delegation visited Dessel (Belgium) where the main office of radioactive waste management company Belgoprocess is located.
This has been already the second visit of ChNPP team to Belgium since 2016 and the fourth general meeting within the framework of ChNPP-Belgoprocess bilateral cooperation agreement.
The ChNPP team together with the Belgium colleagues discussed nuclear waste management issues, specifically regarding operation of waste processing installations, treatment techniques and waste characterization. On the other hand, it was continuation of the Quality Management and Assurance Program.
“Our 4-days meeting, among other things, resulted in drafting a preliminary priority tasks for the next year [2020 — ed.]. After its final agreement in November we will apply with the relevant proposal to the Belgian Ministry of Economics — Department of Energy, for its approval and funding”, — Ivo Fransen, Belgoprocess’s Business Development Manager, sharing plans for the future.
“For ChNPP specialists we are planning a technical visit abroad to a waste processing facility that is similar to the one you have on the Chornobyl NPP site. Concerning the QA issues, we have a current program on risk and information security management systems. We will continue work on its implementation and may extend it with other ISO standards”.
Read more: Chernobyl NPP extends cooperation with Belgian specialists
It will be recalled that the bilateral cooperation with Belgoprocess started in 2016. Then the Ministry of Economics — Department of Energy initiated support to the Belgian organizations to carry out nuclear safety and security improvement projects in the Central and Eastern Europe. In that context, that year we visited the ChNPP site to establish contacts and cooperation.
Within a period of three years, the Belgian QA experts submitted to the ChNPP the recommendations for a Self-Assessment Management Methodology, the Report on a Risk Analysis Methodology, and have initiated work on a Report to improve the SSE ChNPP Risk and Opportunity Management Procedure based on revised relevant ISO standards. Besides, in 2019 they have started work on a Report on approaches to ensure the information security.