Radioactive Waste Management in Ukraine: State and Prospects

On March 11, 2016, the State Agency for Exclusion Zone Management (SA EZM) organized a round table, which was dedicated to the issue of radioactive waste management (RAW) in Ukraine.
The roundtable participants were presented with the reports covering key aspects of the problem. V.B. Berkovskii, Deputy Director General of the Radiation Protection Institute, reported on the organization of industrial area and its effects for safety assessment of storage facilities. Yu.A. Shibetskii, Senior Researcher at the R&D Center for Radio- & Hydro-Ecology Research, focused his speech on the improvements in radioactive waste classification. L.I. Zinkevich, Head of SA EZM Office for Chornobyl NPP decommissioning and radioactive waste management, reported on the international experience in financial support to radwaste management and its state in Ukraine. V.M. Shestopalov, Director of R&D Center for Radio- & Hydro-Ecology Research, told about the prospects of establishing RAW geological storages within the exclusion zone.
Boris Oskolkov, Head of the Chornobyl Center’s Department for Ecology and Expert Assessments, actively participated in the discussions of these crucial problems.

Participants of the roundtable recognized urgency of adopting the state strategy for radioactive waste management and developing new approaches to RAW classification, as well as importance of reforming the RAW Management Fund’s control system. An outstanding problem of “Radon” Special Plants with regard to their function within the RAW management system was raised. A necessity to review further strategy for handling the high-level and long-lived RAW located within the Shelter was mentioned. Upon the initiative of NPP Operational Support Institute, a special workshop will focus on this topic, i.e. fuel containing masses in the Shelter. It will take place in Kyiv on March 18, 2016.