Partners of the Radwaste Disposal Site Rehabilitation Project in Kropyvnytsky Discussed the Implementation of Their Tasks
The process of preparation of the Veselivske decontamination waste disposal site for the rehabilitation was discussed online by the project participants.
Rehabilitation of the site on the outskirts of Kropyvnytsky is handled by: Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Mosin, Head of the Department for Emergencies and Civil Protection Serhiy Kovalenko and Chief Sanitary Inspector Nadiya Operchuk in partnership with leading specialists from Sweden and Norway, specialists of the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Mangement, the State Nuclear Regulation Inspectorate of Ukraine, TOF “AF Ukraine”.
“We are clearly following the plan, two tasks are already being actively implemented — the information collection and preliminary risk assessment is underway. I sincerely thank the Kropyvnytsky City Council for their cooperation, for providing us with all the necessary documents on the situation in time and for being actively involved in the implementation of the planned tasks,” said Rodolfo Avila, a representative of the AFRY Group from Sweden.
In total, six tasks are planned for 2021 within the project, which is designed for two years. The plan for its implementation was made in November 2020 during the first communication between the partners. The parties then concluded that this was necessary to make the field radiologically safe, the current state of which did not meet the safety standards for the storage and disposal of radioactive waste.
The first year of implementation of the rehabilitation project involves the collection of information, risk assessment, development of a monitoring program, preliminary analysis of rehabilitation options. During the second year, they will choose the best rehabilitation option and develop a technical solution.
The area for radioactive waste disposal was set up at the Veselivske loam deposit on November 22, 1988 after the liquidation of the accident on the territory of the Kirovogradbud Trust. Since then, 224 containers with waste contaminated with the radionuclide cesium-137 have been stored there, which provide a radioactive background of up to 300 μR/h. In 2017, unknown individuals tried to excavate the burial site with the help of an excavator, but the city authorities stopped illegal excavations and conducted a radiation survey of the area with the help of SSTC NRS specialists. The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine has classified the event as having all the hallmarks of a radiation accident.
“It is very important for us to implement this project, we have to get these 224 dangerous containers from the ground and rebury them. The city seeks to rehabilitate the area so that it can then be used for construction,” said Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Mosin.
Soon Kropyvnytsky is waiting for the arrival of partners for personal communication and research of the Veselivske site.
According to: “Z Pershykh Ust”, the Kropyvnytsky City Council Website.
