OREANDA-NEWS. On August 26, 2014 the construction of the Ukrainian Central Spent Fuel Storage Facility (CSFSF) has begun in earnest; this new facility will strengthen the energy independence of the country and promote the development of a national fuel and energy complex. The ceremony to commemorate the initiation of the Facility was attended by Deputy Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Vadim Ulida, President of SE NNEGC Energoatom Yuriy Nedashkovskiy and Dr. Kris Singh, President of Holtec International, whose technology will be embodied in the CSFSF construction project.

The Central Spent Fuel Storage Facility will become one of the pillars of the national infrastructure for management of spent nuclear fuel received from Ukrainian's Nuclear Power Plants (it is not envisioned to store any spent fuel from foreign reactors at the Ukrainian storage facility, and, moreover, such storage contradicts IAEA requirements.). Presently, Ukraine's Nuclear Power Plants produce almost 50% of the overall electricity output in the country and establishing appropriate conditions for the long-term safe storage of spent fuel is a strategic energy priority for Ukraine. This long-term safe storage will enable us to fulfill international obligations, which mandate that every country having a nuclear power industry shall bear the ultimate responsibility for the safe management of spent nuclear fuel originated from its nuclear power plants. Additionally, when constructed, the Central Spent Fuel Storage Facility will solve the problem of spent fuel transportation to Russia (today almost half of the spent fuel is transported by Ukraine to Russia for storage and reprocessing). The CSFSF construction and operation costs are estimated to be four times less than the total costs currently borne by Ukraine in transporting the spent nuclear fuel to Russia; the return on investment of the CSFSF will be realized in less than four years of operation.

Regarding the CSFSF's environment impact, the Kyiv Energoproject Institute's estimated that the impact will be significantly below the allowable levels set by the national standard requirements. The site allocated for construction of the Central Storage Facility is located between the resettled villages of Stara Krasnytsya, Buryakivka, Chystohalivka and Stechanka, south-east of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, within the Exclusion Zone.

The Central Storage Facility will also have no impact on ground water because a “dry storage” technology will be utilized; the spent nuclear fuel will be stored in a noble gas medium, within double-wall stainless steel canisters, which will be further loaded into protective concrete modular systems on site. These modular systems are designed to provide physical protection of the used fuel, radiation shielding, and passive heat removal during storage. The structural strength of this system has been verified through simulating the following impact situations: fire, explosion, earthquake and a crashing aircraft event.

The construction and subsequent operation of the storage facility will facilitate the ecological rehabilitation of the Exclusion Zone and renewal of economic activities on some land within this zone.

President Nedashkovskiy said, “The implementation of the CSFSF project is not today's but yesterday's task. Unfortunately, nine years have elapsed since 2005 when the contract was signed between SE NNEGC Energoatom and Holtec International, but only now we have succeeded in overcoming all of the bureaucratic obstacles and have started physically implementing this crucial project. This has only been possible thanks to the support provided by the government, that recognized and reestablished a priority status for the nuclear power sector. Now we have all of the necessary prerequisites to timely complete construction of the CSFSF and to resolve the issue of Ukrainian NPP spent fuel storage”, says President of SE NNEGC Energoatom.

Holtec's President Dr. Kris Singh, for his part, assured Energoatom's President that Ukraine would receive the latest and safest technology for the long-term storage of their spent nuclear fuel. “Working with NNEGC Energoatom, we are confident about the prospects for a successful commissioning of the Central Storage facility and deployment of our state-of-the-art fuel storage technology giving Ukraine a significant strategic independence in the nuclear energy field, not to mention sizable economic advantages that would accrue to the country. This facility should be viewed as Ukraine's commitment to sustain the Nuclear Power Industry as an absolutely safe and reliable source of ecologically, clean energy”, Dr. Singh said.

As a prelude to the ceremonies, on June 24, 2014 in Kyiv, the President of Holtec International, Dr. Singh and the President of SE NNEGC Energoatom, Yuriy Nedashkovskiy, signed an Amendment to the Contract for Construction of the Central Storage Facility for Spent Nuclear Fuel. This Amendment is aimed at resuming the works under the Contract signed in 2005, in particular, development of the Central Storage Facility design. The Amendment's path was paved by the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers' approval of the resolution on the allotment of two land plots with a total area of 45.2 hectares in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, in compliance with the Law of Ukraine “On Spent Nuclear Fuel Management and Siting, Design and Construction of a Central Storage Facility for Spent Nuclear Fuel from Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plants with VVER Reactors”.

The total area of the territory allocated for the CSFSF is 18 hectares. The total construction duration will be specified taking into account the period needed for loading the spent fuel at the facility.

After completion of the construction of the storage facility “start-up complex” scheduled for the end of 2017, and after its commissioning, the CSFSF will accommodate spent fuel from three Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plants, namely, Khmelnitsky, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs (Zaporizhzya NPP operates its own on-site spent fuel storage facility which was commissioned in 2001). According to the Feasibility Study developed by the Kyiv Research and Design Institute “Energoproject” (KIEP), the Central Storage Facility's design storage capacity will be 16,530 spent fuel assemblies, including 12, 010 VVER-1000 fuel assemblies and 4,520 VVER-440 fuel assemblies that fully meet the requirements of these nuclear power plants until the end of these power units' service life.

The construction cost of the CSFSF “start-up complex”, as specified in the Feasibility Study, was approximately UAH 1.23 billion (at 2008 values), and will be adjusted upon completion of the storage facility design.