BASIC FACTS

Located in Eastern Europe, the Republic of Belarus is a landlocked country that borders Poland to the west, Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest, the Russian Federation to the east, and Ukraine to the south. Belarus is a presidential republic that gained its independence in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Capital: Minsk

Belarus does not have any operational nuclear power plants. However, in November 2013 Belarus broke ground on its first nuclear power plant in Ostrovets. The plant consists of two units which are scheduled to come online in 2020. Additionally, Belarus plans to build a low- and intermediate-level waste repository by 2028.

Belarus has three research reactors in Minsk that are used for detecting and sampling irradiation, Pu-Be neutron source location, benchmark experiments, and fundamental research including radiation safety & protection.

TREATIES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

• Joined the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in 1998
• Acceded to the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1993
• Signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1993
• Ratified in 1996
• Signed Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in 1972
• Ratified in 1975
• Signed Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996
• Ratified in 2000
• Acceded to the Antarctic Treaty in 2006
• Signed the Outer Space Treaty in 1967
  • Ratified in 1967
• Signed the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963
  • Ratified in 1963
• Signed the Sea-bed Treaty in 1971
  • Ratified in 1971
• Signed the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forced in Europe (CFE) in 1990
  • Ratified in 1992
• Signed the Treaty on Open Skies in 1992
  • Ratified in 2001
• Signed the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in 1981
  • Ratified in 1982
• Signed the Convention on Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) in 1977
  • Ratified in 1978
• Succeeded the Convention on the Physical protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) in 1993
• Signed the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) in 2005
  • Ratified in 2007
• Acceded to the the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention in 2006

REGIONAL GROUPS

• Member of the Conference on Disarmament
• Member of the Eastern European Group
• Member of the Commonwealth on Independent States (CIS)
• Member of the Collective Treaty Organization (CSTO)

LINKS

Permanent Mission of the Republic of Belarus to the United Nations

UN State Summary

Ratification of Treaties & Membership in International Organizations Related to Disarmament