Designing and construction of the Industrial Complex for Solid Radioactive Waste Management have been funded by the European Commission and Ukraine.

The Industrial Complex for Solid Radioactive Waste Management is designed to accept, process solid radioactive waste accumulated during operation and those waste generated during ChNPP decommissioning, and operational radioactive waste of the Shelter.

The Complex incorporates four facilities for solid radioactive waste management integrated in a single technological cycle.

Lot 0: Temporary Storage Facility for Low- and Intermediate-Level Long-Lived Waste and High-Level Waste (LILW and HLW) in the building of Liquid and Solid Waste Storage Facility (LSWSF). It was commissioned in 2010.

Lot 1: Facility for Retrieval of All-Type Solid Radioactive Waste from existing Solid Radioactive Waste Storage Facility.

Production capacity – retrieval of 3 m³ of radioactive waste (RAW) per day. Operational life – 30 years.

Lot 2: Plant for All-Type Solid Radioactive Waste Sorting and Low- and Intermediate-Level Waste Processing.

Production capacity:
● 20 m³ of non-processed RAW per day
● Incineration facility – 50 kg/h of solid RAW and 10 kg/h of liquid RAW 
● Cementation facility – 10 m³ per day
● Facility for packaging low- and intermediate-level long-lived (LIL-LLW) and high-level waste – 1.5 m³ per day

Capacity of the temporary storage facility for LIL-LLW and HLW – 3,500 m³; operational life – 30 years.

Lot 3: Engineered Near-Surface Storage Facility for LIL Short-Lived Waste.

Capacity – 55,000 m³ of waste packages. Service life of equipment at infilling stage is 30 years. Term of state control of the preserved storage facility is 300 years.

First two Lots are built within the Chornobyl NPP industrial site, and Lot 3 is at “Vector” Complex site within the Exclusion Zone.

Basic information: Radioactive Waste Management

On May 23, 2014, an individual permit for the ICSRM commissioning was obtained expiring till work completion under commissioning stage 2 (“hot” testing).

Currently, the Complex is at preparatory phase for stage 3 of “hot” testing.

In the framework of such preparation, according to the developed procedure, the sampling is carried out from the eastern “low-level” compartment of the Solid RAW Storage Facility (SWSF) containing low-level waste; and its characterization is being performed at the Measuring Water-Radiochemical Laboratory. A western “low-level” compartment of the SWSF containing low-level waste is unsealed.

Also, the following operations are performed at the Complex: repacking of high-level waste from the Temporary Storage Facility for Solid RAW, with subsequent placement for temporary storage at the Temporary HLW Storage Facility, and low- and intermediate-level long-lived waste under the Expanded Program of ICSRM “Hot” Testing Stage 2.

In 2018, 16 RAW packages produced during “active” testing were transported to the “Vector” Complex for disposal.

Reconstruction of the existing transport and process equipment of the “wet” type interim storage facility for spent fuel (ISF-1) is envisaged by “The Concept Design on ISF-1 Decommissioning. Stage 1 - Reconstruction of Transport and Process Equipments with the Objective of SFA Discharge”.

The Storage Facility is designed for acceptance and interim storage of spent fuel assemblies (SFA) coming from reactor compartments of Power Units after preliminary safe enclosure. At the present time more than 21 thousand fuel assemblies are stored in five compartments of the ISF-1 cooling pool that was commissioned in 1986.

The design of the existing Storage Facility does not envisage a procedure for reloading of spent fuel from ISF-1.

The reconstruction objective is to ensure safe performance of transport and process operations on SFA reloading from ISF-1, their loading into a transport container and transportation to ISF-2.

Basic information: Interim Spent Nuclear Fuel Dry Storage Facility (ISF-2)

The activities are financed at the expense of funds of the State Budget of Ukraine. The General Designer is PJSC “Kyiv Research and Design Institute “EnergoProekt” (Ukraine).

Performance of activities:

Commissioning Stage 1: Creation of System for SNF reloading from ISF-1, has been fully implemented. The General Contractor is SE ChCD JSC “YuTEM”.

Commissioning Stage 2: Creation of System for additional monitoring of water level in spent fuel pool compartments, canyon and transfer basket storage compartments; Reconstruction of video control system for transportation and process operations with SNF. The Stage has been fully implemented. The General Contractor is “UkrTransBud” Company.

The Project was completed in December 2012.

Designing and construction of the Complex for for Manufacturing Metal Drums and Reinforced Concrete Containers for SSE ChNPP Radioactive Waste Storage (CMD&C) is funded from the European Commission under TACIS Program.

The Complex is referred to the infrastructure necessary for the Chornobyl NPP decommissioning. Its necessity is conditioned by construction and commissioning of the Industrial Complex for Solid Radioactive Waste Management (ICSRM) and the Liquid Radioactive Waste Treatment Plant (LRTP) at the Chornobyl NPP.

The Complex, as an integrated part of the program of nuclear safety assurance during management of Radioactive Waste and spent nuclear fuel, will ensure safe collection, cargo handling, storage, processing, transportation and disposal of radioactive waste, particularly, during:
1. Storage at the buffer stores of low- and intermediate-level short-lived waste (LIL-SLW) prior to its transfer for disposal to the Engineered Near-Surface Solid Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility (ENSDF)
2. Packaging of treated liquid LIL-SLW and transportation of waste packages from the LRTP to the ENSDF
3. Packaging, processing and transportation of solid LIL-SLW and transportation of waste packages from th SRPP to the ENSDF
4. Packaging and transportation of solid low- and intermediate-level long-lived waste (LIL-LLW) and high-level waste (HLW) prior to transfer to the Temporary Storage Facility for Low- and Intermediate-Level Long-Lived and High-Level SRW located within the SSE ChNPP site
5. Disposal of LIL-SLW at the ENSDF

Main production capacity:
● 34,250 steel drums a year
● 700 reinforced concrete containers a year

Location: construction base DTMC-1, Slavutych, Kyiv Region. Total area of the industrial site is 1.74 ha.

A transfer shielding container/cask (KTZ) is manufactured with lids of two types (for transfer and for disposal of solid radioactive waste). Steel drums are the primary or outer package of ChNPP radioactive waste. Drums are made of carbon steel and have to meet the strength requirements ensured by technology compliance and structural material quality.

The Complex was commissioned in 2012. Nowadays, the products are manufactured in accordance with the ChNPP’s needs.

The LRTP is designed for treatment of liquid radioactive waste accumulated during operation and those generated during ChNPP decommissioning, and operational LRW of Shelter Object. Construction of LRTP is financed from the Nuclear Safety Account of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The LRTP is also designed for LRW treatment during 10 years of operation. Its minimal designed capacity is 2,500 m³ of non-treated LRW per year. The Plant is located within the boundaries of the ChNPP protective perimeter, near the liquid radioactive waste storage facility, which is connected to the system of process pipelines laid in the closed overpass.

Basic information Radioactive waste management

The LRTP consists of the following facilities:
1. Facility for liquid radioactive waste (LRW) removal from existing storage facilities
2. Facility for LRW transportation to treatment facility
3. Facility for treatment and cementation of LRW with purpose of containment and immobilization

The solidified liquid waste in the form of a cement compound are packed into 200-L drums and in reinforced concrete containers are transported to the long-term controllable storage facility.

In April 2018 the Chornobyl NPP obtained a license of the State Architectural and Construction Inspection, which certifies the compliance of the facility with current building norms regulations and requirements. The License certifies that the Plant is ready for operation.

At the present time the Liquid Radioactive Waste Treatment Plant is on the way towards reaching its design capacity.