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    Chornobyl NPP signed an Agreement with Finnish company "Fortum Power and Heat Oy" regarding joint pilot tests on radioactively contaminated water (RCW) treatment at Chornobyl NPP.

    Fortum Company (Finland) is a developer of selective ion exchange materials, namely sorbents series CsTreat®, CoTreat® and SrTreat® with proprietary right and confidential composition.

    Within the framework of the tests it is planned to purify radioactively contaminated water from radionuclides in a pilot plant using ion exchange materials developed by Fortum, to analyze the initial and purified media, and to prepare a report with the results obtained.

    Before the Agreement signing in 2018 - 2019, the parties performed relevant laboratory tests. Their results confirmed the feasibility of these sorbents additional testing in a pilot plant. Besides, the pilot test program will be complemented with RCW pre-treatment and separation of organic compounds by oxidation.

    Pilot tests will allow make a decision regarding the possibility to use this technology to process accumulated Chornobyl RCW, which volume is more than 20 thousand cubic meters.

    In July 2020, ChNPP participated in a joint on-line meeting between the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management (hereinafter referred to as SAUEZM) and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute  (hereinafter referred to as KAERI). The meeting was devoted to a project for establishment of a pilot facility to test the technologies of radioactive concrete treatment and metal foam decontamination.

    At the end of September, one more step towards this direction was taken, namely Mr. Serhii Kalashnyk, the SAUEZM Head, and Dr. Won Seok Park, the KAERI President, signed a Memorandum about Technical Cooperation in research and development sphere.

    “Agency supports continuously and extensively the international cooperation with partner institutions as only having combined the best world technologies and practices we will be able to implement more efficiently all the tasks we face. Namely these are ChNPP decommissioning and Shelter transformation into an environmentally safe system,” emphasized SAUEZM Head Serhii Kalashnyk.

    From 29.09.2020 to 01.10.2020, the moscow Center of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO-MC) has organized a working meeting on "NPPs Equipment Aging Management.”

    Within three days, about 50 representatives from 10 countries will discuss the problems of aging management (resource management) of structures, systems and elements (SSE) at different stages of Power Units operation, criteria for selection of equipment to be included in the aging management program, identification of the dominant mechanisms of SSE degradation, their obsolescence and other issues.

    Taking into account the situation connected with the COVID-19 global pandemic, the event is held in the format of online video conference, all discussions and presentations are arranged remotely.

    On September 17, Chornobyl NPP agreed with the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine the required documentation to start a pilot operation of the facility for materials release from regulatory control.

    The facility is the last stage of the radioactive materials management process. It will allow substantiating the possibility of materials release from regulatory control and returning them to industrial use using the spectrometric measurements. In other words, the facility will confirm that the previously contaminated metal is completely decontaminated and now is safe for reuse outside the Exclusion Zone.

    The program of pilot operation stipulates a preliminary procedure for adjustment of all the necessary modes. The capacity of the facility is 10 tons per day, and it will be achieved during pilot operation.

    Within the framework of hot tests commenced on September 10, 2020, at the new Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility of Chornobyl NPP, all the operations related to the first real spent fuel assembly (SFA) preparation for storage have been successfully completed.

    These procedures include the transfer basket lifting from the railcar to vertical position, unpacking, then moving an individual SFA to hot cell, cutting and repacking.

    So, it can be deemed that all stages starting from the fuel transportation from ISF-1 to ISF-2 and through to its processing for long-term storage were not only tried and tested with dummies but also with an existent SFA.

    Currently, similar activities are carried out with the second spent fuel assembly.

    1. Chornobyl NPP Starts Major Stage in Spent Nuclear Fuel Management
    2. Specific permit for ISF-2 commissioning issued
    3. ChNPP Participates in the Cycle-Friendly Employer 2020 Contest
    4. Information about COVID-19 disease incidence at SSE ChNPP

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