On 14 December, Ukraine and the world honour the Liquidators of the Consequences of the Chornobyl Unit 4 Accident.
The harsh and tragic reality that followed the explosion at the ChNPP Unit 4 led to a different perception of the world, because humanity has never known such a technological catastrophe before. Chornobyl has become a black mark for millennia to come.
On 30 November, a meeting of the round table was held at Chornobyl NPP, which was dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the Shelter commissioning.
The round table brought together over 30 scientists, engineers, and constructors, as well as operators of the New Safe Confinement and Shelter complex.
The purpose of the event was to focus attention of the Government of Ukraine and international partners on the need to consolidate efforts and financial resources on development of a follow-up plan of actions to further transform the Shelter into an environmentally safe system. Development and implementation of such a plan is a huge challenge because of uniqueness and extreme complexity of the works planned, both in terms of technical solutions and scope of financial resources needed.
“A lot has been done over these past 35 years [since the completion of Object Shelter — ed.]. However, everything that has been implemented is just a preparation to the most challenging and most important stage of Shelter transformation into an environmentally safe system — Phase 3 of the Transformation Strategy — that is, in particular, the dismantlement of unstable Shelter structures and management of fuel-containing materials”, — said ChNPP’s Acting General Director Valeriy Seyda in his address to the participants.
On 24-25 November, the ChNPP was visited by experts of Belgoprocess (Belgium).
The visit purpose was to carry out another regular training workshop for ChNPP specialists on learning experience of Belgoprocess in the field of RAW management: i.e. techniques for waste incineration, off-gas cleaning, drying, spent resins treatment, etc., as well as using this experience to optimize the process of RAW management at ChNPP. Besides, the progress of joint work 2020-2021 was summarized and plans for the next year were evolved.
The Belgian experts visited the Industrial Complex for Solid RAW Management (ICSRM) which is one of the key facilities for RAW management at the ChNPP site.
On 16-17 November, Chornobyl NPP received delegation of the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI). The purpose of the visit was to introduce their technology for monitoring Xenon isotopes and its possible application for safety of Object Shelter and the New Safe Confinement. This technology is widely used for monitoring nuclear safety around the world.
The Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI) supported by the Swedish Radiation Safety authority has initiated a project to be implemented in collaboration with the Institute for NPPs Safety Problems of Ukraine NAS (ISPNPP) and SSE Chornobyl NPP. The project is now at the stage of initial feasibility study.
On October 30, a round table devoted to “The Shelter Object – Present Challenges” will take place at Chornobyl NPP.
Within the framework of this round table a number of issues will be discussed aimed at the development and implementation of the design for the Shelter unstable building structures dismantling and identification of further steps for the Shelter transformation into an environment-friendly system.