U4.01/09 - B: Disposal concepts for radioactive waste in Ukraine

Project purpose is to propose and develop suitable generic conceptual designs of disposal facilities, construct generic safety assessments and develop preliminary waste acceptance criteria for the disposal of radioactive waste, including:

• Vitrified high-level radioactive waste (reprocessed nuclear fuel);
• Spent nuclear fuel that is not to be reprocessed;
• Fuel containing masses from Shelter object;
• Waste of the VVER-1000 nuclear fuel production from the Ukrainian nuclear fuel production plant;
• Long-lived low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste1;
• High-level radioactive waste1;
• Disused sealed radiation sources;
• Salt cakes from NPPs
• Waste generated as a result of production and processing of uranium ore;
• Very low-level radioactive waste, if this category is to be included into the new scheme of waste classification in Ukraine.

The proposed conceptual designs shall be justified on the basis of (1) adequate radiological safety for the environment and future human generations (who shall be protected to at least the same level as the present generation) and (2) cost- effectiveness.

Utilization of nuclear energy results in production of spent nuclear fuel and other types of radioactive waste (RAW). In Ukraine, the nuclear power plants (NPP) have generated about 33 000 m3 of various RAW, stored at the NPP sites. Over 2.6 mil m3 of RAW had been generated in the Chornobyl exclusion zone. A substantial fraction of this waste still needs to be properly processed and disposed.
Additionally, a considerable amount of RAW from the non-nuclear sector is stored at various sites of the RADON State Enterprise, awaiting a final disposal. In 2009, Ukraine only had built or planned disposal facilities for short-lived low-and intermediate-level RAW, the Buriakovka and Vector Industrial Complex in the Chornobyl exclusion zone. Ongoing investment at the “Vector” Industrial Complex should have allowed long-term storage of all groups of RAW until a final disposal facility were available. However, no decision was taken on final disposal methods of high-level waste and long-lived intermediate and low-level waste. According to Ukrainian legislation, all long-lived and high-level waste were to be disposed in deep geological formations. The absence of agreed disposal concepts and methods had lead to practical problems in the area of RAW management.

The contractor implementing the project was a consortium consisting of:
DBE TECHNOLOGY GmbH, Germany – as a consortium leader SKB International AB, Sweden
ANDRA, France
COVRA, the Netherlands
ENRESA, Spain
The consortium had subcontracted the Radio-environmental Centre (REC) of the Ukrainian Academy of Science, which also provided the core team of local experts.
The original project implementation period was 3 years from 26 October 2012 to 25 June 2015. However, due to administrative difficulties, deteriorated safety conditions in Ukraine and delays at Ukrainian side, the project was extended by 9 months and finished on 25 July 2016.
The project implementation was divided into 8 tasks.

The Task 1 was dedicated to organizing a kick-off meeting and preparation of the Inception Report. The meeting took place in Kiev on 20 December 2012. The Inception Report was finally approved on 20 November 2014.

Within the Task 2, the contractor identified the existing and committed radioactive waste streams subject to disposal and sorted them according to their quantitative, physical, chemical and radiological characteristics. The contractor then identified the type of disposal facility needed according to the radioactive waste characteristics
and its geographical/regional distribution.

Within the Task 3, the contractor evaluated the potential option of RAW disposal and identified the optimal ones for the RAW disposal in Ukraine:
• Intermediate low-level (ILW) waste and high-level waste (HLW) should be disposed of in a deep geologic repository located in a granitic host rock.
• The current Ukrainian approaches were found suitable for disposal of all LLW
• The very-low-level (VLLW) waste in Ukraine should be disposed at a
centralized disposal facility established in a tight clay formation and closed with a suitable covering system

Within the Task 4, the contractor specified the main technical characteristics for standardized waste containers and respective waste forms suitable for storage, transport and disposal. It has been consistent with the RAW disposal concepts presented in Task 3. The contractor also proposed an improved container design based on a further development and refinement of the disposal concepts.

In the Task 5, the contractor further developed conceptual design of disposal facilities according to options proposed in Task 3. It has included conceptual design of a centralized near-surface disposal facility for VLLW and of a geological disposal facility for ILW and vitrified HLW, including spent fuel, in a granitic host formation. The design has considered the facility siting, construction, operation, maintenance and closure processes. The contractor then performed generic safety
assessment of the suggested facilities and estimated cost of all phases of the new facilities' lifecycle.

Within the Task 6, the contractor presented the generic Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) developed for the disposal concepts, as developed under the Task 5.The WAC have included:
• List of waste prohibited or limited (in weight or volume) for disposal
• Radiological specifications with dose, contamination, radionuclide and activity
limits
• Chemical, physical and other class-specific criteria
• List of acceptable container types

Within the Task 7, the contractor development long-term waste management program (up to 2045) for implementing the necessary activities needed to safely manage and dispose the various types of radioactive waste (VLLW, LLW, ILW,HLW, spent nuclear fuel). The programme base have been the waste streams identified in the Task 2 and the proposed disposal facility concepts developed in the
Task 5. It has also included estimated costs of the program implementation.

Within the Task 8, the consortium presented the project results in a final workshop held in Kiev on 15 September 2016. The status of project completion and lessons learned were discussed in final contract meeting on 16 September 2016.

The consortium has submitted a technical report for each task describing in details all the work done.