Russia’s Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC), part of state nuclear corporation Rosatom’s fuel company TVEL, said on 18 May that it had completed decommissioning a facility (M2079) at a sublimation plant used for the processing of highly enriched uranium oxides.
The work was carried out as part of the Federal Target Programme "Ensuring Nuclear and Radiation Safety for 2016-2020. and for the period until 2030”.
The M2079 installation was constructed at the sublimation plant in 1996 as part of the Russian-American agreement on nuclear disarmament, which involved the conversion of highly enriched uranium (HEU) into low-enriched energy uranium (LEU). Uranium hexafluoride was obtained at the facility by fluorination of highly enriched uranium oxides.
The facility ceased operation in October. Nuclear materials were removed from the plant’s technological equipment, and the equipment was transferred to a nuclear-safe state.
In 2017, design documentation was developed for the decommissioning of the facility, taking into account all safety requirements.
Decommissioning took place in 2018-2019, including decontamination of premises, building structures and engineering systems and dismantling of technological equipment, pipelines and engineering systems.
Radioactive wastewas transferred to the burial site of FSUE NO RAO.
A commission audit carried out by Rosatom and TVEL in March had confirmed that the decommissioning of the M2079 installation had been completed in accordance with the project.
