Dry Interim Storage Facility for Spent Fuel Assemblies from Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

Final shutdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine necessitates safe on-site interim storage of irradiated fuel. Plant operator EnergoAtom placed a contract with a Framatome-led consortium for the design and construction of a facility for dry processing and interim storage of some 25,000 spent fuel assemblies from Chernobyl. The designed solution combines a facility for processing spent fuel arriving from the power plant with the qualified NUHOMS™ storage system. Processed spent fuel is packaged in sealed stainless steel containers in an inert atmosphere and placed in horizontal reinforced concrete storage modules. The design takes account of RBMK fuel architecture as well as the need for safe storage of absorber rods. Commissioning is currently scheduled for late 2001. The design service lifetime of the storage facility is one hundred years.