Air and soil samples taken near Belarus’ NPP

Representatives of Belarusian environmental organizations and the National Center for Radiation Control and Environmental Monitoring of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection examined a number of facilities located near the Belarusian nuclear power plant construction site in Ostrovets on 16 October, BelTA learnt from the Belarusian public association Environmental Initiative.

The activists selected soil and air samples to be tested for Caesium-137 and Strontium-90 and measured gamma-radiation in Ostrovets, in particular in the central public garden, and two neighborhoods. They also took water samples from a well used by local residents.

Chairman of the Environmental Initiative association Yuri Solovyov said that the National Center for Radiation Control and Environmental Monitoring took 15 soil samples, two water samples and two air samples. The results of the tests will be ready by mid-November. They will be presented to the public via mass media and discussed at roundtable sessions and seminars.

Yuri Solovyov noted that the data that will be obtained during the tests will allow exercising public control over the environmental safety of the NPP and will become the basis for an independent monitoring of the impact of the nuclear power plant on the environment and human health. “The results of the tests will become a kind of benchmark that will be used to monitor the changes in the environment near the nuclear power plant after the facility is commissioned,” the environmentalist said.

The research is part of the project to conduct public monitoring of the environmental impact of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. The project was initiated by a number of Belarusian environmental organizations. On 14-18 October environmentalists are taking samples of soil, air and water in Ostrovets and the villages of Gozy and Trokeniki, Ostrovets District, and on the NPP construction site.