Energoatom Plans Supply of First Spent Fuel Containers to Centralized SFSF in First Half of 2019

The Energoatom Company that operates all Ukrainian NPPs is planning supply of the first containers to the centralized spent fuel storage facility (centralized SFSF) in the first half of 2019, Yuriy Nedashkovsky, the President of the Company, informed.

Commissioning of the first startup stage is planned in the first half of 2019. That is, we plan to supply the first containers with spent nuclear fuel to the site of the centralized SFSF at the beginning of 2019, Nedashkovsky said.

He added that land allocation for the storage facility, access railroad, etc. was completed.

As previously reported, in early June 2017, the Cabinet approved the construction project for the centralized SFSF, which will receive spent nuclear fuel from Ukrainian NPPs operated by the Energoatom Company.

According to the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine, nuclear fuel from Rivne, Khmelnitsky and South Ukraine NPP will be safely stored for 100 years in this storage facility using the Holtec International advanced technology of dry surface storage.

In the absence of its own storage, Ukraine has to annually spend about 200 million dollars for services related to export and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel on the territory of the Russian Federation.

The contract between the Energoatom Company and Holtec International for construction of the centralized SFSF was signed in 2005. However, for a number of reasons including changes in the political situation, the project was actually frozen for a long time. Actual work under this project was renewed in 2014.

According to the Energoatom Company, the Contract for the storage facility construction envisages that Holtec International Company will supply special equipment for spent nuclear fuel dry storage and transport and will provide Ukraine with the technologies that will be used at NPPs and during spent nuclear fuel transport from NPPs to the centralized SFSF, as well as in the storage facility.

UNIAN Information Agency