Development and Adaptation of Radwaste

As a consequence of the accident at the 4th unit of ChNPP a large amount of radioactive waste was generated with variable composition and properties. Another significant portion of the waste is expected to be generated during the decommissioning of the Units 1, 2 and 3. In the first period after the Chernobyl disaster a lot of waste handling and management facilities were established and constructed at the site to solve the most critical waste management problems. However, in many cases, due to time stress and the special priorities, the safety aspects have not been considered at the required level. Moreover, the logical and well justified comprehensive programme for the design, construction and location of the waste management facilities was absent even almost 15 years after the Chernobyl disaster.

As one of the actions proposed within the joint general effort to sort out the complicated radioactive waste management situation at the ChNPP site, the EC decided to initiate this project aimed in the assessment of the waste inventory at the site, establishing the radioactive waste data base and analysing the potential options for a sound, safe and cost efficient waste handling and processing.

The overall objective of this project was to contribute to the improvement of the management of the radioactive waste at the Chernobyl NPP.

The specific objective of this project was to propose a list of facilities and technologies for the radioactive waste processing at the ChNPP site, using the EU countries experience and considering the specific conditions at the site, in particular, the existing inventory of the radioactive waste and its foreseen generation. The aim was to facilitate a better co-ordination of the preparatory and implementation work and to provide for an efficient know-how transfer in the related (radioactive waste management) projects.

The project work-plan had a relatively large scope in spite of the fact that the time available for its implementation was relatively short. The project was implemented in two administrative and three technical packages:

• Preparatory activities, including the preparation of the project documentation, QA plan, work-plan and the time schedule; arranging for the subcontracting in the Ukraine, the analysis of legislative, regulatory and normative requirements;
• Collection of the input data on the radioactive waste in the entire Ukraine. Establishing of the radioactive waste data base, covering the existing waste in storage, the assessment of future waste generation rates and the classification of the waste;
• Assessment of the requirements for transport, processing and storage of the processed waste, considering the actual storage conditions, the needs for pre-treatment at the site, the treatment, the conditioning and, if necessary, the retrieval of the stored waste and its transport to the centralized facility for processing;
• Evaluation of the needs for the extension of the centralized waste processing facility, being constructed at the Chernobyl NPP site;
• Preparation of the final report.

The main value for the future user represented the technical tasks. The first of them, aimed in collection of information on waste generation, covers not only the ChNPP but also the other operated NPPs in Ukraine, the research organizations and the other waste generators. The End user and the subcontractor helped to collect the requested information, which supported an assessment of the feasibility of the centralized waste disposal facility at the ChNPP site.

The activities within the other two technical tasks were directly related to the previous one. In spite of the fact that the liquid waste processing facility, the solid waste processing facility as well as the waste retrieval equipment at the ChNPP site were at various stages of design and construction, the analysis of the waste handling and processing options was performed for the feasibility to make major changes/modifications to these facilities in the future. The disposal options (which are of an equal significance as the waste processing facilities) were also considered and analysed.

The implementation of the project represented a valuable contribution to the justification of an eventual modification of decisions on the waste management technologies at the ChNPP site.

Comments

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

The final report describes the results and achievements of the contractor. The results of the project are well presented and represent a valuable contribution for the decision making and future development of the waste management system at the ChNPP site as well as in the entire country.

The project fully met the objectives stated in the relevant section of the ToR.

Further Information

Further information on the project results can be found in the Final (summary) report (available in the JRC Petten archive) and sought from the beneficiary organizations