According to Euroradio, the incident could happen in April 2022, but information about it was not published.

Judging by the information available to Euroradio, the incident was reported through so-called internal channels between April 17 and 29.

In terms of time, the alleged incident coincided with "planned and preventive maintenance", for which the first power unit of the Belarusian NPP was stopped at the end of April.

It was planned to last about 80 days, but the reactor was shut down for six months and returned to the power grid only on November 9.

How Euroradio found out about the incident

The journalists claim that a failure in the system of electronic appeals to the state bodies of Belarus was the reason that the contents of several thousand such appeals were made publicly available.

Among them, Euroradio found a letter sent to the address of BelNPP on behalf of NaftaKhimDiagnostika LLC.

In the column "Applicant's e-mail address" the address filipovets@bk.ru was entered.

is the director of "NaftaKhimDiagnostika" LLC.

In the subject of the appeal it is indicated: "Statement - warning about radiation of personnel."

The text stated that the video of the moment of irradiation of people was sent to the e-mail belaes@belaes.by.

This is the official contact email of the administration of Bel NPP.

"NaftaKhimDiagnostika" company specializes in the maintenance of technological equipment and technological installations at hazardous production facilities.

It works throughout the territory of Belarus.

Among the activities listed on the NaftaKhimDiagnostika website are work on technical diagnostics of technological equipment that is operated at dangerous and potentially dangerous facilities.

On the NaftaKhimDiagnostika website, it is said that it serves, among other things, "energy enterprises".

Reaction to the Bel NPP and NaftaKhimDiagnostics

Journalists were offered to submit a written request at Bela NPP.

Euroradio also called the director of NaftaKhimDiagnostika, Roman Filipauts, but he refused to talk, citing inconvenience and offered to meet with journalists "after the New Year and the holidays", "to analyze all these issues in detail", "to look through the papers and discuss everything."

What could have happened

Euroradio journalists claim that from the text of the e-mail they found, it is not clear which irradiated personnel is being referred to.

Not only BelNPP employees, but also employees of NaftaKhimDiagnostika itself could be irradiated.

For example, gamma defectoscopy is a method of searching for defects using radioactive radiation.

Nuclear physicist

- Or the radiation could have occurred during work with oil pipes - thorium and uranium deposits are possible on them.

That is, it is not necessarily related to the work of the nuclear power plant, - added Azharovsky.

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What you should know about BelAES

• Since 2011, the Belarusian nuclear power plant has been built near Ostravets, in the Horaden region, 22 km from the border with Lithuania, 50 km from Vilnius and 125 km from Minsk.

• The launch dates were postponed several times.

  Initially, the launch was planned for 2018, Lukashenka later stated that Russia missed the deadline.

  Finally, the NPP launch ceremony took place on November 7, 2020.

• The NPP-2006 project was selected for construction — a typical Russian project of a new generation nuclear power plant using a water-water power reactor VVER-1200.

  According to the same project, the units of the Novavoronesk NPP and the Leningrad NPP-2 operating in Russia were built.

• Bel NPP is being built by the Russian state company "Rosatom" at the expense of a loan from Russia.

  Belarus borrowed up to 10 billion dollars to finance 90% of the cost of construction of two nuclear power plants.

  Repayment of the loan begins 6 months after the date of commissioning of the nuclear power plant, but no later than April 1, 2021.

  Belarus asks Russia to extend the loan for 10 years.

• The station will have two power plants with VVER-1200 (B-491) reactors with a capacity of up to 1200 MW each.

  That is, the design capacity of the nuclear power plant is 2.4 thousand MW.

  When the nuclear power plant operates at full capacity, the station will provide 18 billion kilowatt-hours per year - half of what Belarus currently consumes.

• Lithuania has repeatedly questioned the selection of the Ostrovets site for the construction of the NPP.

  The country named 10 reasons not to build the Bel NPP, accused the Belarusian authorities of concealing information about the plant.

  Lithuania protests against Bel NPP at the highest state level, expresses protests in international structures.

  The president of Estonia supports Lithuania.

• The Astravetskaya NPP site was recognized as dangerous as early as 1993.

  Then 7 suitable sites, 15 moderately suitable and 6 unsuitable ones were found.

  The Ostrovetsk site was among the last.

• The authorities and officials of Belarus are slow to respond to reports of incidents during the construction of their own nuclear power plant.

  Usually, incidents at the Bel NPP are officially reported after information about them appears in the media - yes, the fall of the reactor body was reported only after international pressure.

  In the end, the hull that fell was replaced (the Russians are going to use it at another nuclear power plant).

  The new one accidentally hit a pole, but no damage was found, so they decided not to change the case a second time.

• Belarus produces enough electricity for its own needs without a nuclear power plant, Lithuania and Estonia can be supported by Latvia (although it is not going to impose an embargo), Poland is going to build its own nuclear power plant, as well as Finland.

• Spent nuclear fuel from Bel NPP will remain in Belarus.

  Environmentalists claim that Belarus chooses the most expensive and dangerous way to store spent fuel from nuclear power plants.