First transfer from Chernobyl's new waste processing facility

They have been transferred for disposal at the Specially Equipped Near-surface Disposal Facility for Solid Radioactive Waste (ENDSF).

The Industrial Complex for Solid Radioactive Waste Management (ICSRM) began operations in May after receiving its licence from the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine.

The new complex is processing solid radioactive waste which was accumulated during the period when the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was in operation, and which has been stored at the Solid Radioative Waste Storage Facility, which dates back to 1978.

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant had four operating units - unit 4, which was destroyed in the 1986 accident (read more about it here) - and three other units, all RBMK-1000 reactors, which closed down in 1991, 1996 and 2000, respectively. There are also two almost-completed ones which never entered service which are being decommissioned.

Chornobyl NPP (Chornobyl is the preferred Ukrainian spelling) says the accumulated waste "includes used personal protective equipment, thermal insulation materials, cable insulations and the cables themselves, individual metal structures, soil, concrete, reinforcing steel, ion-exchange resins from water treatment system filters, etc".

The specialised solid radioactive waste retrieval process has a capacity of three cubic metres per day, with the retrieved waste loaded into a special transport container and "then transported via a process gallery to the hot cell of the facility intended for all categories solid radioactive waste sorting and low- and intermediate-level waste processing".

"At this stage, each batch of waste undergoes radiological characterisation and control. Specifically, checks are conducted for the presence of potential ionising radiation sources and other high-level waste that should not enter the processing stream. Following characterisation, the waste is loaded into 165-litre drums and compacted. The immobilised and packaged radioactive waste is then transported to ENSDF for disposal."

The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine gave approval for the commissioning of the Solid Waste Retrieval Facility and Solid Waste Processing Plant at the Chernobyl site in January last year.

The ICSRM was majority funded by the European Union and encompasses four facilities for solid radioactive waste management integrated in a single technology cycle. It includes a facility for temporary storage for low- and intermediate-level long-lived waste as well as high-level waste. This is within the Liquid and Solid Waste Storage Facility and was commissioned in 2010.

There is also the near-surface storage facility for low- and intermediate-level short-lived waste with a capacity of 55,000 cubic metres. It will accept waste for 30 years and store it for 300 years.

The overall complex is part of SSE CERWM, the State Specialised Enterprise for Radioactive Waste Management. The plant lies about 130 kilometres north of Kiev and about 20 kilometres south of the border with Belarus.