U1.03/06A3 Fragmentation and Sorting Facility

In the framework of the TACIS 2006 Programme, the European Commission agreed with NAEK-Energoatom and Rivne & Zaporozhe Nuclear Power Plants (RNPP and ZNPP) on the funding of the Solid Radioactive Waste Treatment Projects for these NPPs (hereafter SRWT projects), which included the design, purchase and installation of equipment for the retrieval and the treatment of solid radioactive waste on the Rivne and Zaporozhe NPP sites.

The objective of the Radioactive Waste Treatment project was to resolve the issues of treatment of radioactive waste, whether already accumulated or to be produced during plant operation. The project enabled ZNPP to

• improve efficiency of the radwaste treatment processes;
• reduce of the radwaste volumes in the storages by incineration / super compaction and fragmentation
• obtain the end products compliant with the recommended criteria of the long-term storage/disposal;
• ensure compliance with the international safety requirements, implementation of the ALARA principles in the course of the radwaste handling.

The specific objective of the project is the radwaste preparation and subsequent treatment with the use of high-technology equipment and with the application of incineration, a super compacting and fragmentation equipment. The end product of treatment is high-density product suitable for long-term storage. The use of the advanced equipment with the maximal level of mechanization and automation will reduce the time of the personnel in contact with radwaste. The state-of-the art control systems with the minimum of controlled parameters should allow effectively responding in case of emergency. Also, the system should allow minimizing the amount of radwaste accumulated at the storages as a result of the NPP operation and maintenance.
The TACIS-financed contribution to the Radioactive Waste Treatment project was split into 3 supplies:

• U1.03/06A1 Lot1 - Incineration facility
• U1.03/06A1 Lot2 – Emission Monitoring Systems, Surveillance Camera System, Mobil Decontamination Device for the incinerator facility
• U1.03/06A1 Lot 3: Super Compaction facility.
• U1.03/06A3 Lot 4: Fragmentation and Sorting Facility.

The present project covered the supply of Fragmentation Caisson and Associated Equipment (U1.03/06A3 Lot4).
The installation has been designed as a tight operation caisson. A caisson ventilation system creates and ensures the necessary sub pressure and the air exchange inside the caisson and the exhaust air purification. Within the Fragmentation caisson a set of fragmentation equipment and tools has be installed. The main items of equipment are:

• Band saw
• Hydraulic hand cutter
• Fine focus plasma cutting unit
• Hydraulic scrap shearing machine
• Electrical Fork Lift Truck
• Mobile decontamination device
• Active ventilated protective suits
• Standard tools

The project included:

• Design of the caisson
• supply of the equipment
• supply of spare parts
• design, manufacture, acceptance tests, certification, delivery, supervision of installation and commissioning and training of End user personnel

The first set of Technical Specifications for the project was developed in 2004 under the service contract "Solid Radioactive Waste Treatment for Rovno NPP – U1.01/01B" (Contract 95161). After failure of the tender procedure in February 2008 the Technical Specifications were revised under the service contract "On-site Assistance to Zaporozhe NPP – U1.03/06" (Contract 132885) and retendered in January 2009 (EuropeAid/127831/ D/SUP/UA).
The contract with the supplier of the system Vuje, Slovak Republic was signed in June 2009.
The new caisson has been installed in the existing Radwaste Treatment Facility building. The fragmentation equipment has been design and installed in a tight operation caisson. A delivered caisson ventilation system creates and ensures the necessary subpressure and the air exchange inside the caisson. The equipment was installed by ZNPP under supervision of the supplier. The site acceptance test (SAT) was performed in July 2011 and the Provisional Acceptance Certificate (PAC) was signed on 27.07.2011. The Final Acceptance Certificate (FAC) was signed after expiration of the warranty period.
The achievement of this project, when the rad-waste building is completed and all equipment (EU and Energoatom financed) are installed, is to ensure the safe handling and storage of radioactive waste originating at Zaporozhe Nuclear Power Plant.