Russia's Atomtechenergo has received a licence to provide services involving nuclear energy and sources of ionizing radiation in Belarus. The Moscow-based company is a subsidiary of Atomenergoprom, the part of state nuclear corporation Rosatom that unites Russia's civilian nuclear industry.

Russia has shipped the reactor pressure vessel for unit 2 of the nuclear power plant under construction in Belarus, state nuclear corporation Rosatom announced yesterday. The equipment for the VVER-1200 unit weighs more than 330 tonnes, is 13 metres high and has a 4.5 metre diameter.

Continued government backing and resources are needed to further build the Belarusian nuclear safety regulator's technical capabilities ahead of the start up of the country's first nuclear power reactor, an International Atomic Energy Agency team has concluded.

Russia's readiness to replace the reactor pressure vessel its workers dropped during installation work in August at unit 1 of Belarus' first nuclear power plant, reflects the fact this is a public acceptance matter rather than a technological concern, Rosatom director general Sergey Kirienko said yesterday. Kirienko spoke to reporters during the International Atomic Energy Agency's 60th General Conference being held this week in Vienna.

State financial controllers in Belarus and Russia have carried out an audit of the intergovernmental agreement between the countries for construction of Belarus' first nuclear power plant, in Ostrovets, in the Grodno region. According to Nuclear.Ru, the State Control Committee of Belarus and the Accounts Chamber of Russia have looked at the "performance of obligations" laid out in the agreement.

Russia's Rosatom has offered to replace the reactor shell its workers dropped during installation work last month at Belorussia's first nuclear power plant, in Ostrovets, in the Grodno region. Meanwhile Mikhail Mikhadyuk, deputy energy minister of Belarus, has said a decision would be taken on the use of the equipment only after a thorough investigation of the "abnormal situation".

AEM-Technology has completed assembly of the reactor vessel for the VVER-1200 unit 2 of the Belarus nuclear power plant, in Ostrovets, in the Grodno region. Based in Volgodonsk, Russia, AEM-Technology is part of Atomenergomash, itself a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

AEM-Technology has completed assembly of the internals for the VVER-1200 reactor vessel for unit 1 of the Belarus nuclear power plant, in Ostrovets, in the Grodno region. Based in Volgodonsk, Russia, AEM-Technology is part of Atomenergomash, itself a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

AEM Technology has completed welding of the lower half of the VVER-1200 reactor vessel for unit 2 of the Belarus nuclear power plant, in Ostrovets, in the Grodno region. The upper half of the reactor vessel was completed in December.

AEM Technology said today that it has completed welding of the upper half of the VVER-1200 reactor vessel for unit 2 of the Belarus nuclear power plant, in Ostrovets, in the Grodno region. Based in Volgodonsk, Russia, AEM-Technology is part of Atomenergomash (AEM), itself a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

Russian heavy machine-building company Atommash said yesterday it had completed production of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) for the Ostrovets nuclear power plant in Belarus. It is the first RPV manufactured at Atommash's production site after a nearly 30-year hiatus and the first since it became part of Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear corporation, in 2012.

A scientific study has for the first time demonstrated that, regardless of potential radiation effects on individual animals, the Chernobyl exclusion zone supports an abundant mammal community after nearly three decades of chronic radiation exposures. The study, conducted by scientists from Belarus, Japan, the UK and the USA was published yesterday in the journal Current Biology.