26.08.2015   Radioactive waste management and contaminated site clean-up

Total waste inventory

Table 11.9 summarizes the data on total amount of radioactive waste accu­mulated in Ukraine by the middle of 2008. In the future, new streams of radioactive waste will originate in Ukraine. It is assumed that in accordance with international agreements, vitrified high-level RAW will arrive to Ukraine from the Russian Federation starting in 2013. These wastes are the product of reprocessing and subsequent vitrification of spent nuclear fuel from Ukrainian VVER-440 reactors.

According to Shestopalov et al. (2008), in the course of decommissioning and dismantling of existing Ukrainian VVER reactors, the following amounts of reprocessed solid waste will appear (in thousand m3): LLW: 34.4; ILW: 4.6; HLW: 2.4.

In the future, the rate of RAW accumulation in Ukraine will increase. This is due to Ukraine’s plans to increase the annual electric power produc­tion at NPP from 88 x 109kWh in 2005 to 220 x 109kWh in 2030 (Energy Strategy, 2006 ).

Table 11.9 Radioactive waste accumulated in Ukraine as of mid-2008

Waste source

Amount (m3)

Solid waste

Liquid waste

Operating NPPs

35,670

18,880

Chernobyl NPP

2,500

20,260

‘Shelter’ object

530,000-1,730,000

3,000

RWDP and RWTSP within the Chernobyl

1,913,000

—

Exclusion Zone

RWTSP outside the Chernobyl Exclusion

171,000

—

Zone

UkrSA ‘Radon’ plants

5,100

620

Research reactors

30

370