The Industrial Complex for Solid Radioactive Waste Management (ICSRM) at the Chornobyl NPP in Ukraine has shipped the first seven packages of low- and intermediate-level waste for disposal, Chornobyl NPP (ChNPP) reported. The waste was transferred to a Specially Equipped Near-surface Disposal Facility for Solid Radioactive Waste (ENSDF) which is part of the ‘Vector’ complex.
In late May, the ICSRM entered the initial operation phase after receiving the relevant licence from the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU). This transitioned the long-term project into an active processing line. The ICSRM is a sub-facility of the Vector complex, which is part of the State Specialised Enterprise “Central Enterprise for Radioactive Waste Management” (SSE CERWM), the National Operator for radioactive waste management.
ICSRM is designed to receive and process solid radioactive waste accumulated during the ChNPP’s operational period, waste generated during the plant’s decommissioning, and operational radioactive waste from the “Shelter” object. It operates as a single, cohesive technological line split into four distinct processing sections, commonly referred to as ‘Lots’, each of which plays a specific role in the waste lifecycle.
Lot 0, the Interim Storage Facility, serves as a temporary storage vault specifically designated for low- and intermediate-level long-lived waste, as well as high-level waste. Lot 1, the Solid Waste Retrieval Facility. handles the active extraction of legacy low-, medium-, and high-level long-lived solid waste from the plant’s existing historical storage bunkers. It has an operational design capacity to retrieve three cubic metres of waste a day and a design life of 30 years.
Lot 2, the Solid Waste Processing Plant, renders the bulk of the raw waste safe. It sorts and processes solid and liquid radioactive wastes at a rate of 20 cubic metres a day through a sequence of sorting, high-force compaction, incineration, and cementation (immobilisation in concrete matrices).
Lot 3, the Engineered Near-Surface Disposal Facility (ENSDF), is the final destination for short-lived low- and intermediate-level waste. It has a capacity of 55,000 cubic metres, designed to safely contain and isolate the engineered waste packages for a 300-year storage cycle.
Lots 0, 1, and 2 of the ICSRM are located directly on the main Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant industrial site. This is where the old waste bunkers are unsealed, and the processing, compaction, and cementation plants are operated. Lot 3 (the ENSDF) is located 11 kilometres away, inside the physical perimeter of the Vector complex.
The ICSRM is currently processing solid radioactive waste accumulated during the Chornobyl NPP operation and stored in the Solid Radioactive Waste Storage Facility, which has been in operation at the plant since 1978. This waste includes used personal protective equipment, thermal insulation materials, cable insulations and the cables themselves, individual metal structures, soil, concrete, reinforcing steel, ion-exchange resins from water treatment system filters, and other material.
The waste is removed from the old storage facility using the Solid Waste Retrieval Facility. The retrieved waste is loaded into a special metal transport container with a volume of 1.3 cubic metres and then transported via a process gallery to the hot cell of the Solid Waste Processing Plant intended for all categories solid radioactive waste sorting and processing.
At this stage, each batch of waste undergoes radiological characterisation and control. Specifically, checks are conducted for the presence of potential ionising radiation sources and other high-level waste that should not enter the processing stream. Following characterisation, the waste is loaded into 165-litre drums and compacted. The immobilised and packaged radioactive waste is then transported to ENSDF for disposal.
The design and construction of the ICSRM were heavily funded by the European Commission (EC). The project was executed as part of the European Union’s international assistance programmes for nuclear safety, notably via the legacy TACIS (Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States) programme and the Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation (INSC).
Out of the total initial budget of approximately €47m ($40m) allocated to bring the integrated waste management complex to fruition, the EC provided roughly €43.5m. This major international funding initiative enabled the conversion of Chornobyl’s legacy waste operations into a standardised, modern processing line.
