Assistance Chernobyl NPP U4.01/99

The development of an Integrated Waste Management Programme (IWMP) was proposed to cover the most of the waste management problems at the Chernobyl NPP. According to the licence conditions, the ChNPP was obliged to submit the IWMP to the regulatory authority by the end of 2002. The IWMP was also required to meet the requirements of the EBRD. The Institute of Environmental Geochemistry, which was contracted to draft the IWMP, did not ensure a proper execution of this work and the licensing and the implementation of waste management activities were at risk.

There were also several problems in the proper and efficient management of the Industrial complex for the solid radioactive waste management (ICSRM) project implementation.

Therefore the EC proposed at the meeting of all principal involved parties (ChNPP, Project management unit and EBRD) to establish a task force to prepare a coherent IWMP, reflecting the requirements of both the Regulatory Authority as well as the EBRD. Another proposed issue was to provide for managerial support of ICSRM project preparation and implementation. Subsequently, the TACIS project U4.01/99 was launched and the consortium of SGN (leader), AEA Technology and EWN was contracted to perform the scheduled activities. Three main activities were assigned to the contractor:

• Assistance in the development of the IWMP
• Management of the Industrial complex for solid radioactive waste management (ICSRM) contract execution
• Management of the support projects.

The overall objective of this project was to contribute to a safe and sound management of radioactive waste from the 4th ChNPP unit as well as the radioactive waste generated during decommissioning of the Units 1, 2 and 3.

The specific objective of this project was to assist in the management and the execution of the preparatory activities for IWMP drafting and the ICSRM project preparation and execution. However, the last task could not be fully covered within this project, since the contract duration was shorter than the ICSRM execution schedule.

The first phase of the works included three tasks:

• Assistance in the ICSRM tender evaluation and the contract awarding;
• Assistance in the ICSRM contract inception; and
• Assistance with the interface management.

The main tasks of the second phase were:

• Management of the ICSRM contract execution as the representative of the end user;
• Management of the support projects; and
• Assessment and proposal for the improvement of the IWMP which was prepared by the ChNPP and its subcontractor.

In the first phase, the ICSRM project management unit project operation manual (ICSRM PMU POM) was prepared and agreed with all involved parties to define the responsibilities, activities and procedures, related to execution of the ICSRM contract. The ICSRM PMU quality assurance programme (QAP) was the second principal document prepared by the contractor to manage its own activities, as well activities of other project participants.

During the execution of the ICSRM project, the PMU acted as the End user representative. The PMU activities covered the contribution to drafting of the technical specifications, baseline schedules, payment schedules and several other tasks, both, technical as well as managerial character. The PMU activities assured a positive working atmosphere and relations of all involved organisations in this difficult and extensive technological project.

In the last task, related to the IWMP, the responsibilities of U4.01/99 project contractor were clearly defined. They were limited to the checking, reviewing and commenting of the documents produced within the IWMP drafting. In addition, the contractor provided the Institute of environmental geochemistry, contracted by ChNPP for the IWMP drafting, with the information available and the equipment necessary for the IWMP development. In the process of the IWMP drafting further clarifications and justification of the scope of the IWMP was provided by the contractor.

The EC representatives declared that the PMU contracted to implement this project acted professionally, proactively and adequately to the ICSRM project situation. The PMU contribution to review process and to improvement of the IWMP was also very significant and appreciated.

Comments

(Quality of the results, Lesson learned, Recommendations for follow-up)

The final report describes the principal achievements and the results of the contractor. Even more important than the written report were the results of the practical, everyday management of the preparatory works and the implementation of the ICSRM project as well as the IWMP drafting.
The project fully met the objectives stated in the relevant section of the ToR.