First batch of carbon steel from Chernobyl approved for recycling

The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine has approved the release of the first 20 tonnes of carbon steel from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant for reuse. The materials were made safe through shredding, decontamination and thorough inspection at a waste release facility using gamma spectrometric monitoring. 

The launch of the process to reuse materials marks a significant milestone not only for the nuclear power plant, but also for Ukraine as a whole. It demonstrates that the country is capable of operating a radiation monitoring system effectively and reliably.

The first batch of material comes from the dismantling of the plant’s equipment; materials from the three units currently being decommissioned will follow. Alongside initiatives to reuse materials, there are also plans to gradually reduce the decommissioning zone around the plant, taking into account the site’s suitability for small modular reactors.

Design of the sarcophagus over the destroyed Unit 4, which later encountered technical difficulties, began in May 1986. Construction took approximately six months and was completed at the end of November. The three other units continued operating after 1986, and the last operating unit, Unit 3, remained in service until 2000.

Plant decommissioning concept

The concept for decommissioning the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was approved in 2004, and the decommissioning programme for Units 1, 2 and 3 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was approved in 2008.

The final state after decommissioning is complete will be what is known as a “brown spot”—the condition of the power units after the equipment has been dismantled and the remaining structures decontaminated to a level of radioactive contamination that is average for the surrounding area.

Decommissioning of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is to be carried out in three phases:

• Final shutdown (completed) and preservation (to be completed by 2028);
• Safe enclosure (2029–2045);
• Dismantling (2045–2064).

Decommissioning of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is scheduled to be completed by 2065.