On the 25^th of August the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Fumio Kishida made a technical visit to the Exclusion Zone area and the Chernobyl NPP site itself.

During a meeting at the ChNPP Model Hall the guests received from the ChNPP General Director Igor Gramotkin the general information on work status at the industrial site of the Plant, progress of international projects aimed at the Chernobyl NPP decommissioning and Shelter Object transformation into an ecologically safe system.

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On August 2, 2013, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine has issued to SSE ChNPP a separate permit of ОД No.000033/7 series to perform works on commissioning of New Ventilation Stack (NVS) of ChNPP Stage II.

Pursuant to this permit, the NVS will be commissioned in accordance with “Decision on Commissioning of New Ventilation Stack of SSE ChNPP Stage II” and “Program of Commissioning of New Ventilation Stack and Relevant Systems of SSE ChNPP Stage II” approved on July 4, 2013.

During work performance on NVS commissioning, the SSE ChNPP should provide permanent control for volumetric activity of air around Shelter Object when changing the ventilation system modes and closing ventilation stack VS-2 orifice, and following completion of NVS pilot operation stage, ensure compliance with a criterion of air flow rate through Shelter Object bypass.

For information. As far as available ventilation stack of ChNPP Stage II (VS-2) impedes the arrangement of NVS eastern end wall, the activities on constructing new ventilation stack with simultaneous partial reconstruction of available ventilation systems and radiation monitoring system were started in 2010 to make provision for consumers of Unit 3, Liquid and Solid Radwaste Storage Facility and Shelter Object (following VS-2 dismantling). The NVS commissioning should take precedence of VS-2 dismantling commencement.

On the 25th of July 2013 works on installation of continuous flight auger piles for the Service Zone foundation along the New Safe Confinement northern trench, which is the area of the Arch design position after the skidding, were completed.
The first pile for the Service Zone foundation was installed on April 19 this year. 1,058 cubic meters of concrete was laid and 208 continuous flight auger piles were installed at a depth of 19 meters each during the concrete bedding process. The works were performed under radiation-hazardous conditions of the Shelter Object Local Zone.
The works on assembling of reinforcement cages and laying of concrete for installation of ground beams of the Service Zone foundation at the northern trench are in progress at the moment. As of July 25, 2013, out of the total amount 33.79% of reinforcement bars was assembled and 8.23% of concrete mixture was laid.
The installation of the southern trench foundations are planned to be commenced in September 2013 following the state expert review of the design documentation.

On July 8, the activities on dust fixation on surfaces of collapsed structures, equipment, floor and wall panels were commenced in Unit 4 Turbine Hall near collapse area of roof and wall structures. The personnel of contracting organization “StroyEnergoMontazh” perform the works under “Action Plan for mitigation of consequences from roof collapse and potential risks for available structures and personnel”.

The objective of this measure is to ensure reliable dust fixation on the surfaces of collapsed structures and prevent its spreading beyond containment structure and its entry into the environment as well.

The complexity of these activities is stipulated by the fact that work performance area has high levels of exposure dose rates and surface contamination, moreover, non-uniformity of radiation fields within this area is extremely high. Besides, the work zone includes large areas of vertical and horizontal surfaces of complex configuration. This is provided by the fact that a lot of pre-accidental equipment of the Turbine Hall is being within this area, and accumulation of materials and fragments of building structures of accident origin is recorded.

The total area to be treated is 4,440 cubic meters. The activities will be continued till the end of current month. Following their performance, a polymer film will be formed on all surfaces of the Turbine Hall in axes 49-54, safely fixing and retaining radionuclides. The guaranteed lifetime of the cover is 12 months. This time will be enough to recover collapsed fragments of roof and wall panels and containment structure of Unit 4, consequently.