Italy’s Societa Gestione Impianti Nucleari (Sogin) has completed demolition and subsequent reconstruction of temporary storage facility No 2 for low-level radioactive waste at the Enrico Fermi NPP in Trino (Vercelli). The reconstructed structure, which satisfies current safety requirements, is located on the same area as the old storage and will house the radioactive waste from the plant pending its transfer to the National Repository once available.
The new warehouse will house both the waste, currently stored in warehouse No 1 and in the buffer Test Tank, as well as waste resulting from future decommissioning activities.
The single unit Enrico Fermi (Trino) NPP, a 270 MWe pressurised water reactor, was Italy’s first commercial nuclear power plant. Construction began in 1961 and operation in 1964. Following the Chernobyl accident, a referendum voted to close Italy’s four NPPs and Trino was permanently shut down in 1990. Sogin, which took ownership of the plant from utility Enel in 1999, is responsible for its decommissioning.
Work on the structure (41 metres long, 19 metre wide, and 8.5 metres high) began in November 2024. It involved demolition of the old warehouse and its reconstruction on the same area and with the same volume. At the same time, the characterisation and disposal of materials resulting from demolition work were completed. These consisting mainly of iron, concrete and excavated soil.
Ongoing work includes the installation of electrical, fire-fighting, and radiological monitoring systems, which will be completed by the first half of 2026. Commissioning, following testing, is scheduled for the first part of 2027.
Sogin will then begin work to upgrade the other repository on the site (No 1) as part of the programme to optimise storage space for radioactive waste generated by the plant’s previous operation and ongoing decommissioning work, with a view to its eventual transfer to a National Repository.
