From 19 to 21 February 2019, ChNPP Training Centre hosted an International Atomic Energy Agency expert mission aimed at reviewing and providing expert recommendations on the sampling and characterization methods for solid radioactive waste (hereinafter RAW) retrieved from solid waste storage facilities, as well as identifying radionuclide vectors and measuring activity of RAW packages.

Currently, ChNPP is preparing for the third stage of hot tests with the actual waste scheduled to commence in the second half of the year. As part of preparation for the tests, sampling and characterization of solid RAW was carried out retrieved from the so called light compartments of the solid waste storage facility.

These compartments were being filled with waste during the period from 1978 to 1988, and currently contain over one thousand cubic metres of RAW.

The eastern compartment was filled with only the RAW generated during normal operation of ChNPP units. This compartment had been filled and preserved before the 1986 accident.

The western compartment was mainly filled with ChNPP accidental waste. The RAW accumulated in this compartment can contain transuranium elements and be highly heterogeneous as for radiological properties in contrast to RAW from the eastern compartment.

Read more: ICSRM pre-commissioning activities are being continued

Alongside the activities on sampling and characterization of solid RAW, methodology to be used during ICSRM operation has been developed.

Recommendation from IAEA experts will help to refine the developed methodology in line with the current IAEA standards and best international practices, which will further contribute to efficient and safe management of solid RAW.

In addition to the ChNPP specialists, the mission was attended by the representatives of the SNRIU, SSTC NRS, SSE “Ecocentre” and the Institute for Safety Problems of NPP, which are the developers of these documents.