Working Meeting Held in Brussels within INSC Program

On 24 January 2018, Hryhorii Plachkov, Chairman of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, together with Vitalii Petruk, Head of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management (SAEZ), and Svitlana Kulchytska, Acting Director of Department of Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Industrial Complex of the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine, participated in the working meeting in the Directorate General of the European Commission (EC) in Brussels. They discussed with EC representatives the process, achievements and problematic issues of the international technical assistance projects that are implemented in Ukraine under financial support of the EU within INSC program (Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation).

According to the agenda, SNRIU Chairman provided European partners with brief information on the main measures implemented by the SNRIU to enhance independence of Ukrainian nuclear regulatory authority. Besides, the following issues were discussed with the participants:

  • implementation of INSC regulatory projects by the SNRIU, including new regulatory projects within INSC, in particular: “Strengthen Capabilities of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine in Regulating Activities in Nuclear Area and Licensing and Management of Severe Accidents at Nuclear Installations”;
  • long-term program for safety improvement and remediation of the site of legacy Prydniprovia Chemical Plant in Kamianske under INSC support;
  • INSC support of the radioactive waste management program in Ukraine, etc.

Vitalii Petruk, SAEZ Head, thanked the European Commission for the support of international technical assistance projects, in particular, the project within which national enterprises of the Ukrainian Association Radon received sets of up-to-date equipment at the end of 2017 for emergency response and remediation of radioactive waste storage sites. Due to successful cooperation, Ukraine continues improving infrastructure of radioactive waste management to enhance radiation safety and reach a new level.

“Our attention was focused on the most relevant issues of radioactive waste management in Ukraine. We made sure we are on the same page with the European Commission in the context of current projects”, Vitalii Petruk said.

According to SAEZ Head, the participants discussed issues on the support of radioactive waste management, implementation of the national program for the management of radioactive waste and radiation sources, development of the integrated automated system for environmental radiation monitoring at five specialized enterprises of Radon, and remediation of radioactively contaminated territories and improvement of personnel training system for all levels.  

For reference:

Starting from the financial year of 2007, the Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation of the European Commission applies to Ukraine. For each member state, there is an action plan that defines the objectives, expected output, management procedures and the total amount of planned financing in nuclear safety sphere.

The following activities have been completed within this program in Ukraine as of today:

– Concept for Radioactive Waste Disposal in Ukraine has been developed;

– up-to-date equipment for the Central Laboratory for Radioactive Waste Characterization has been supplied;

– facility for storage of spent radiation sources at the Vektor site has been constructed. 

The projects within INSC Program that are under implementation:

– supply of equipment for emergency response at specialized enterprises of Radon and for remediation of radioactive waste storage sites;

– improvement of the national training system for personnel involved into radioactive waste management and decommissioning;

– development of the integrated automated system for environmental radiation monitoring at five specialized enterprises of Radon.

The projects of INSC Program to be implemented:

– development of the national plan of geological disposal of radioactive waste in Ukraine and schedule for its implementation;

– comprehensive safety assessment of radioactive waste management sites operated by Radon and development of measures on the remediation of problematic storage facilities.

According SAEZ and SNRIU press services