Energoatom gets operating licence for centralised fuel storage facility

The Centralised Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility, located in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, is a dry storage site for used nuclear fuel assemblies from the country's VVER-1000 and VVER-440 reactors. It is designed to have a total storage capacity of 16,530 used fuel assemblies, including 12,010 VVER-1000 assemblies and 4520 VVER-440 assemblies. Contracts were signed for its construction with USA-based Holtec International in 2005, though construction only began in 2017.

It started receiving used nuclear fuel from the country's nuclear power plants at the end of 2023 and it has been operating under a commissioning licence. The decision to issue a licence followed examination of the detail of the application and an inspection carried out from 20 April to 1 May.

Head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) Oleg Korikov said: "Issuing a licence for the 'nuclear facility operation' life cycle stage of the … facility means the completion of the process of creating our own system for safe management of used nuclear fuel in Ukraine. It is important that the operation of the Central Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility will ensure compliance with nuclear and radiation safety requirements, as well as IAEA standards. According to them, the reactor holding pools of each reactor facility must have free volume for complete unloading of the core at any time during operation. I congratulate you on this event and wish you trouble-free operation."

Pavlo Kovtonyuk, Acting Chairman of Energoatom, said: "Obtaining a licence to operate the Central Spent Fuel Storage Facility confirms the ability of the Ukrainian nuclear industry to implement large-scale and technologically complex projects in accordance with the highest global safety standards. The operation of the storage facility over the next 100 years strengthens the energy sustainability of Ukrainian nuclear generation, guarantees reliable management of spent nuclear fuel, and provides the state with a significant economic effect."

Energoatom says that the new facility will save USD200 million a year which it previously had to pay for the used fuel to be transported and stored in Russia. It will also avoid the risk of having to interrupt operation of plants because of a lack of capacity to safely store used fuel.