Belarus has adopted a radioactive waste management strategy for its first nuclear power plant under construction near Ostrovets. The country's council of ministers adopted a resolution outlining the strategy on 2 June. The document was published on the National Legal Internet Portal last week. The resolution entered into force after its official publication.

Belarusia's energy ministry has rejected media reports that claim changes in the value of the Russian rouble against the euro have negatively impacted its project with Russia to build a nuclear power plant at Ostrovets.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant has received a construction licence for the second unit, the press service of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry has told BelTA news agency.

The core catcher for unit 2 of the nuclear power plant at Ostrovets in Belarus has been delivered to the construction site, Atomenergomash said yesterday.

Belarusian regulator Gosatomnadzor has found that all the required safety measures are in place for the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant.

Ukraine expects to prepare soon a draft presidential decree on establishing a biosphere reserve in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

The Volgodonsk branch of AEM-Technology has started preparing the core melt trap, or core catcher, for shipment to the site of the Belarus nuclear power plant, near Ostrovets.

Construction of unit 2 at the Ostrovets plant in Belarus is underway following the pouring of first concrete for the reactor's basemat. Both units should be in operation by 2020.

Russia's state-owned Vnesheconombank is to provide a loan of $500 million over eight years for the financing of Belarus's first nuclear power plant under a newly signed agreement.

A full construction licence has been issued for the first of two units at the Ostrovets plant in Belarus, allowing the reactor and plant buildings to be built. First concrete was poured for the unit in late 2013 after the country's nuclear regulator granted a permit for just the foundations to be built.

The first safety-related concrete has been poured for the foundation slab of the initial reactor at the Ostrovets site in Belarus marking the official start of construction of the country's first nuclear power plant.

The construction of the first nuclear power plant in Belarus can commence following the issuance of a permit from the country's nuclear regulator. The plant will be supplied by Russia.