At the construction site of a nuclear power plant close to Petersburg a shield covering the reactor number one partially collapsed. The management of Russian company Rosatom did everything in their power to prevent the information from leaking to media. However, journalists of Russian Novaya Gazeta managed to take photos of the construction site after the accident. Rosatom is supposed to build the same nuclear power plant in Astravets, in Belarus, close to the border with Poland and Lithuania.
The incident happened during a lunch break, so no one was injured. Novaya Gazeta reporters managed to get a testimony of a man who witnessed another incident at the same construction site. In January, due to a strong wind a 14-meter high metal structure fell.
Novaya Gazeta journalists claim that Rosatom corporation, thanks to their close ties with the ruling elite, is not subjected to any state control. Rosatom makes the projects, executes them and controls it. That’s why inspecting such incidents becomes impossible. At the beginning, the corporation’s management informed about „insignificant deformation of the metal structure“ at the construction site. Only after, the photos of the incident were all over the country’s media, the state authorities demanded a thorough control to be conducted. The results showed notorious violations of safety rules.
Belarusian commentators ask in the opposition newspapers – if Rosatom does not obey safety rules in their own country, what will be the quality of the nuclear power plan in Belarus?
Photos from the construction site at the Novaya Gazeta website
Michał Janczuk (TV Belsat)
