General public to actively participate in monitoring of the Belarusian nuclear power plant construction
“The nuclear power plant is being constructed as scheduled,” says Vladimir Gorin, deputy chief engineer of the Nuclear Power Station Construction Directorate.
Ostrovets is changing now: a village with a population of 8,500 people, it is expected to grow into a developed satellite town with a population of 20-25,000. “Our plan is to develop the city, make it beautiful and attractive for living so that people feel comfortable there,” notes Vladimir Gorin. New roads and housing have already been built for the power plant future employees. According to the expert, four houses have already been built and two more will be completed by the end of the year. Schools, kindergartens, and a shopping center will be built here as well, an investor to fund the construction of a modern hotel has been found. Local authorities are staking on attracting investments in the service sector. Those who will be managing the nuclear power plant believe that providing comprehensive information to the public about the construction is utterly important. An information centre was established for this purpose, which was attended by about 5,000 people from the moment of its opening.
In an effort to provide access to the information and a possibility of independent control, Belarusian ecological organizations led by Environmental Initiative started a project for public monitoring.
The public monitoring project assumes systematic visits to the construction site, collecting information on the progress of construction and engaging independent experts to assess and analyze the situation. Also, it is very important to gather questions from the population.
“We also plan to report the results of monitoring to state authorities. If we identify any abnormalities that may affect the safety of the object, we are obliged to inform the relevant authorities and require eliminating of defects,” said Yuri Soloviev, head of Environmental Initiative.
