18 November 2025 marks the fifth anniversary of the loading of the first batch of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) into the Spent Fuel Dry Storage Facility (ISF-2) at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. On this day in 2020, the first canister was placed into storage during hot trials, and full-scale industrial operation of the facility began in July 2021 after the operating license was obtained.

Over the past five years, a quarter of all spent nuclear fuel from Chornobyl NPP has already been transferred from the old “wet” storage (ISF-1) to ISF-2. This has significantly reduced risks and clearly demonstrates substantial progress in the decommissioning process.

The transfer was suspended during the Russian occupation of the plant in 2022, but despite the ongoing war, work continues according to the schedule. ISF-2 has become a symbol of international cooperation and Ukraine’s resilience in ensuring nuclear safety.

The transfer of spent fuel to safe long-term storage is one of the key stages in decommissioning the Chornobyl NPP. We are taking this important path together with our international partners. In particular, the ISF-2 facility was constructed by the U.S. company Holtec, whose Ukrainian subsidiary I headed during the start-up and commissioning phase. It was a unique project that combined cutting-edge spent fuel storage technologies with the latest Ukrainian and international nuclear and radiation safety standards. Five years of operation have confirmed that all the decisions we made were the right ones – the facility has operated without any issues”, said Serhii Tarakanov, Director General of Chornobyl NPP.

ISF-2 is the world’s largest dry spent nuclear fuel storage facility and is designed to store more than 21,000 RBMK spent fuel assemblies from Units 1, 2, and 3 for at least 100 years. The technology based on double-walled sealed canisters placed inside concrete storage modules, guarantees complete isolation of the fuel assemblies.