Ukraine's Energoatom permitted to start operating Centralized Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility

KYIV. April 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The National Nuclear Energy Generating Company of Ukraine, Energoatom, which operates all four Ukrainian nuclear power plants, has received special permission from Ukraine's State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate to put the Centralized Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility into operation, the company said on Monday.

"The license authorizing this activity was issued to Energoatom on April 25 by the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine," Energoatom said on Telegram.

This special permission was expected to be granted back on March 9 of this year, but was delayed due to the situation around the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, where the aforementioned storage facility is situated, it said.

"Presently, the Centralized Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility is ready to begin operating. All equipment, computers and other specialized devices are functioning normally," the company said, adding that the facility's designed operating life is at least 100 years.

As reported, the Centralized Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility is an autonomous nuclear facility intended for long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel from the South Ukraine, Khmelnytskyi and Rivne Nuclear Power Plants (NPP). Until 2021, the spent fuel from these NPPs was brought to Russia, where it was stored and recycled, a step that cost Ukraine around $200 million annually.

The construction of the Centralized Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility began in 2017 under a contract signed with U.S. company Holtec International. The first start-up site at the facility was built in December 2020.

The construction of a 43-kilometer Vilcha-Yaniv railroad, which was ordered by Energoatom and connected the facility to Ukraine's railroad network, was completed in July 2021.

Energoatom wrapped up nearly two-month-long cold-mode autonomous trials of the systems of the Centralized Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility on January 24, 2022. Comprehensive cold tests, i.e. without fuel, were conducted at the facility from January 26 to February 4.