A final meeting of the Assembly of Chornobyl Shelter Fund (CSF) Contributors and a regular meeting of the Assembly of the Nuclear Safety Account (NSA) Donors took place in Kyiv on July 9, 2019. The Ukrainian delegation at these Assemblies was represented by the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ostap Semerak, Head of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management (SAUEZM) Vitalii Petruk, Acting Director General of the State Specialized Enterprise “Chornobyl NPP” Serhii Kalashnyk, and Chairman of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) Hryhorii Plachkov.
At the Assemblies the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) presented updates on the work progress under the Shelter Implementation Plan including the construction projects on the New Safe Confinement (NSC) and the Interim Spent Fuel Dry Storage Facility (ISF-2).
On July 10, in the Exclusion Zone the NSC was officially handed-over from JV NOVARKA, i.e. the General Contractor of this huge project, to the Client, i.e. the SSE “Chornobyl NPP”. The event was attended by the country's top leadership, representatives of the CSF’s donor-countries, officials of the EBRD, management and representatives of the SNRIU, SAUEZM, SSE ChNPP and NOVARKA.
Within the framework of ceremonials at the ChNPP industrial site the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy handed out the highest state awards, i.e. the Golden Star of the Hero of Ukraine, to the former workers of Chornobyl NPP Oleksii Ananenko and Valerii Bespalov who in 1986 emptied the pressure-suppression pond from water and thus prevented the danger of the second explosion. Oleksandr, a son of the third Hero, i.e. Borys Baranov, received the posthumous award from the President.
It will be recalled that on June 27 this year a Senior Mechanical Engineer of the Reactor Shop (during 1983-1989) Oleksii Ananenko, a Senior Engineer of the Turbine Shop (during 1986) Valerii Bespalov and a Shift Supervisor (during 1976-2005) Borys Baranov (posthumously) were granted a Title of the Hero of Ukraine for heroism and self-sacrificing actions demonstrated during elimination of the ChNPP accident which happened on April 26, 1986.
During the meeting with representatives of the donor-countries the President of Ukraine expressed profound gratitude to all those who helped and is continuing helping Ukraine in overcoming the ChNPP accident consequences. The President emphasised his admiration for all activities being implemented now at the site under the international projects, as well as stresses on need to develop tourist potential of the Chornobyl zone.
Besides, Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited a central control room of the New Safe Confinement and a space under the NSC’s Arch, was familiarized with the work progress on completing the ISF-2 construction, and laid the floral tributes to the memory of the feat of the ChNPP accident liquidators at the monument of Chornobyl Heroes.
FYI
According to the Contract, the successful completion of the NSC trial operation which lasted 72 hours and finished on April 25 this year, is the beginning of the defect notification period (a stage of a pilot-industrial operation) to be lasted for one year.
Upon completion of the whole acceptance and handing-over process, the ChNPP will obtain a relevant license and proceed with operation of the NSC complex and dismantling of the Shelter Object’s unstable structures.
Cover photo: President of Ukraine official website
