The Commission on Economic Issues under the CIS Economic Council approved the draft decision to designate TVEL JSC as the CIS basic company for spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste management, and decommissioning of nuclear and radiation hazardous facilities. The final decision has been submitted for consideration at the CIS Economic Council meeting scheduled for June 2021.
In 2019, Rosatom made a decision to designate TVEL JSC as the Russian nuclear industry integrator for “Decommissioning of nuclear and radiation hazardous facilities” along with the work to be done at the NPP reactor, including the internals of the primary circuit and radioactive waste handling. In 2020, Rosatom approved a product strategy for decommissioning of nuclear and radiation hazardous facilities.
“Decommissioning of Gen I nuclear facilities, spent nuclear fuel management and radiation-related safety issues form a strategically important task for the nuclear industry in terms of the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Rosatom companies have already accumulated significant experience in the complex high-tech projects implemented with the purpose of nuclear legacy elimination, and TVEL JSC, as an industry integrator, consolidates all these competencies ranging from pre-decommissioning to site remediation. The CIS base company role will allow us to systematically share this experience with colleagues from the Commonwealth countries, form common approaches and intensify cooperation to ensure nuclear and radiation safety in the CIS area. This will also allow us to act as a “single window” for field-specific organizations of the CIS members in the event of urgent requests related to these issues,” noted Natalya Nikipelova, President, TVEL JSC.
Rosatom TVEL has centers of competence in decommissioning of nuclear and radiation hazardous facilities including the development of back-end technologies, engineering and project implementation. TVEL is actively working to build intra-industry relations and form a comprehensive market offer to provide a full cycle of services from the development of decommissioning projects and dismantling of structures to site remediation after its decommissioning.
As part of the implementation of the first Federal Target Program "Nuclear and Radiation Safety" from 2008 to 2015, Rosatom TVEL companies completed 37 projects at seven sites: 57 facilities were decommissioned, while 13 more facilities were prepared for further decommissioning. The completed projects include the first Russian experience of decommissioning of a nuclear facility at the Chemical and Metallurgical Plant and bringing it to the "green lawn" status in Krasnoyarsk, in 2010. Another well-known example is the preparation and mothballing of an industrial uranium-graphite reactor at the site of the Siberian Chemical Combine in Seversk, Tomsk Region.
Currently, Russia is implementing the Federal Target Program “Ensuring Nuclear and Radiation Safety for 2016–2020 and for the Period up to 2030”.
