Safely storing radioactive waste in the Ukraine

Crown Agents is providing specialist project management services to the Ukrainian State Corporation (USC) Radon for the design and turnkey construction of a storage facility for High Activity Sealed Radioactive Sources (HASS). A sealed radioactive source is a source containing radioactive substances designed to prevent any discharges of the substances, under normal conditions of use, and to rule out any possibility of contamination. Such radioactive sources are sometimes abandoned, lost, misplaced or removed without authorisation, which can be dangerous. The purpose of the storage facility is to prevent this from happening.

The facility will be located at the "Vector" Industrial Complex for Solid Radioactive waste Management. This is being developed within the Chernobyl (Nuclear Power Plant) Exclusion Zone. The project was officially launched with a kick-off meeting held between the UK Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Ukrainian Ministry of Emergencies (MoE). Since then Crown Agents tendered for and selected a design contractor, STC KORO. Over the coming months our team will also be responsible for procuring services, works and supply contracts, liaising with regulatory bodies in Ukraine, checking safety complies with international standards and finally providing training in project management, financial control and procurement.