A r33.3 million contract for the construction of a solid radioactive waste treatment facility at Chernobyl has been awarded to NUKEM. The facility will condition waste generated during the operation of the plant as well as during the decommissioning of Units 1 to 3.
The European Commission-financed project should be completed within 28 months and covers the turnkey construction of three facilities including the design, licensing support, construction, manufacture and installation of components, commissioning and final acceptance.
The project is subdivided into three packages. The first package is the retrieval of solid radioactive waste which is currently stored in the interim storage silos at the site. In the second package this waste, together with the waste generated during the operation of Units 1 to 3, will be sorted and conditioned into waste streams suitable for final disposal. In the third package the conditioned solid radioactive waste, as well as conditioned waste products generated by the liquid radioactive waste treatment plant financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, will be stored in an engineered near surface disposal facility for low and intermediate level waste.
