International expert meeting on decommissioning and remediation after nuclear accidents is underway IAEA Headquarters in Vienna from January 28 to February 1, 2013. The conference was attended by over 200 participants from over 20 countries, EU, IAEA.

The program includes an exchange of experiences and lessons learned in the field of remediation and decommissioning of facilities after nuclear accidents, current challenges in these areas, problems of planning and implementation of Decommissioning and Remediation projects, Waste, and Damaged Fuel Management, role of international cooperation in addressing of these issues.

The meeting was attended by the Chairperson and representatives of the State Inspectorate of Nuclear Regulation of Ukraine, Chairman of the State Agency for the Exclusion Zone Management Mr Volodymyr Kholosha, representatives of Chernobyl NPP and scientific institutions of Ukraine. Experience in site remediation and Chernobyl NPP decommissioning, presented as separate report within the Conference Program, aroused great interest among the participants. Representatives from Japan show a special interest in Chernobyl experience, they are working now to overcome the consequences of the Fukushima NPP.

Poster reports, devoted to Chernobyl Cooling Pond decommissioning and Shelter object transformation, are also presented within the Conference.

Oleh Proskuriakov, the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, officially visited the Chernobyl NPP on the 25th of January. Accompanying by the Head of State Agency on Exclusion Zone Management, Volodymyr Kholosha, and the SSE ChNPP General Director, Igor Gramotkin, the Minister and his attendants visited the Liquid Radioactive Waste Treatment Plant, Industrial Complex for Solid Radioactive Waste Management, Shelter Object Observation Pavilion, as well as the NSC erection area along the route that was arranged in areas, where construction and assembling activities are not performed at the moment. After the guests were familiarized with the Plant site, a summary meeting with the ChNPP management was held. During this meeting the current and prospective directions of the Plant activity were discussed.

On January 15-16, 2013, a meeting was held at ChNPP with participation of Mr. Terje Johnson, Head of Software Development Department of the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), Norway, regarding the extension of bilateral cooperation. The cooperation between ChNPP and IFE started in 2006. It was aimed at creation of Chernobyl NPP Decommissioning Visualization Center.

The Center will be used for planning, training and implementation of the procedures for personnel, demonstration of decommissioning processes to the government authorities and public. It will also give an opportunity to plan and control exposure doses, and get visualization of radiation scenarios during planning and training to perform different tasks. This will enable to reduce men-hours significantly, dose loads to personnel, increase efficiency and safety of dismantling works, and management of radioactive materials.

The activities on center creation were suspended due to lack of corresponding agreement between Ukraine and Norway. The Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation between Norway and Ukraine in Nuclear and Radiation Safety, Chernobyl NPP Decommissioning and the Shelter Transformation into Ecologically Safe System was signed in Oslo on November 30, 2012. This gave the green light to complete the works on visualization center creation, and to implement new common projects as well.

During the meeting, the Parties discussed organizational and technical issues to be solved for creation of the Chernobyl Decommissioning Visualization Center. The representative of the Institute for Energy Technology visited ChNPP site, where he got familiar with the progress on ChNPP decommissioning and Shelter transformation, and presented to SSE ChNPP Management new developments and technologies of the institute, which could become a basis for future cooperation.

For information
The Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) is the international research institute in the field of energy and nuclear technology. The IFE mission is to conduct research and developments in energy sector, oil producing and oil processing industry, and in the field of alternative energy sources. The institute was established in 1948. The annual turnover is approximately NOK 775 million, and about 600 employees work in IFE. The basic tasks of IFE are: development of profitable, safe and environmentally friendly technologies in the area of renewable energy sources, oil production; preservation and further development of national experience in reactor safety, radiation protection and nuclear technologies based on reactors Halden and JEEP II. The institute is leading Norwegian expert center for nuclear technologies. The Halden Reactor Project, being in charge of the Institute for Energy Technology, is a basis for international cooperation in reactor safety research.

On January 15-16, 2013, a meeting was held at ChNPP with participation of Mr. Terje Johnson, Head of Software Development Department of the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), Norway, regarding the extension of bilateral cooperation. The cooperation between ChNPP and IFE started in 2006. It was aimed at creation of Chernobyl NPP Decommissioning Visualization Center.

The Center will be used for planning, training and implementation of the procedures for personnel, demonstration of decommissioning processes to the government authorities and public. It will also give an opportunity to plan and control exposure doses, and get visualization of radiation scenarios during planning and training to perform different tasks. This will enable to reduce men-hours significantly, dose loads to personnel, increase efficiency and safety of dismantling works, and management of radioactive materials.

The activities on center creation were suspended due to lack of corresponding agreement between Ukraine and Norway. The Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation between Norway and Ukraine in Nuclear and Radiation Safety, Chernobyl NPP Decommissioning and the Shelter Transformation into Ecologically Safe System was signed in Oslo on November 30, 2012. This gave the green light to complete the works on visualization center creation, and to implement new common projects as well.

During the meeting, the Parties discussed organizational and technical issues to be solved for creation of the Chernobyl Decommissioning Visualization Center. The representative of the Institute for Energy Technology visited ChNPP site, where he got familiar with the progress on ChNPP decommissioning and Shelter transformation, and presented to SSE ChNPP Management new developments and technologies of the institute, which could become a basis for future cooperation.

For information
The Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) is the international research institute in the field of energy and nuclear technology. The IFE mission is to conduct research and developments in energy sector, oil producing and oil processing industry, and in the field of alternative energy sources. The institute was established in 1948. The annual turnover is approximately NOK 775 million, and about 600 employees work in IFE. The basic tasks of IFE are: development of profitable, safe and environmentally friendly technologies in the area of renewable energy sources, oil production; preservation and further development of national experience in reactor safety, radiation protection and nuclear technologies based on reactors Halden and JEEP II. The institute is leading Norwegian expert center for nuclear technologies. The Halden Reactor Project, being in charge of the Institute for Energy Technology, is a basis for international cooperation in reactor safety research.