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Chernobyl nuclear power plant lacks space for radioactive waste burial

According to preliminary assessments, it will take almost 30 years to treat all accumulated waste

© Piotr Sivkov/TASS

KIEV, September 21. /TASS/. About 20,000 cubic meters of liquid radioactive waste have been accumulated at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, but the exclusive zone has not enough space to store such amounts, press service of Ukraine’s State Agency for Exclusive Zone Management said on Thursday.

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At present, the report says, liquid radioactive waste is preserved in containers in two repositories. According to preliminary assessments made by the Chernobyl nuclear power plant experts, it will take about 29 years to treat all accumulated waste.

"The number of produced packages of radioactive waste is expected to exceed 303,000," whereas "a specially equipped shallow ground repository at the Vektor complex for solid radioactive waste was designed to contain only 70,000," the press service noted.

"Lack of free space in the repository prompts searching for ways to cut the final output of the solidification plant, and one of the most effective measures would be to decrease the existing amount of liquid radioactive waste to be recycled at the plant," Deputy Chief Technology Officer at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant Alexander Skomarokhov said. To tackle this problem, a contract was signed in August 2017 to establish a pilot plant and test low-waste technology for liquid radioactive waste management.

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