A ground breaking ceremony to mark the start of the construction of the Centralised Store for Spent Radioactive Sources (SRS) was held at the Vector Complex in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine, on the 5th October 2011.
Crown Agents has been managing the project on 
behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) since the commencement of the design activities in 2008. Funding for the construction of the facility has been provided by both the UK Government through the DECC as part of the G8 Global Partner Initiative and the European Union.
The ceremony was chaired by Volodymyr Kholosha, Head of the State Agency of Ukraine for the Management of the Chernobyl 
Exclusion Zone, alongside Leigh Turner, the British Ambassador to Ukraine. A symbolic gesture to mark the event was made by the two officials as they planted a pine tree to represent the long-suffering area surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
During Mr Kholosha's speech, he thanked all the parties "who had joined forces for the sake of our safe world and environment." At the event, Leigh Turner also stated that: "The Centralised Store which will be erected is the result of close collaboration between Ukrainian designers and British technical advisers."
The Centralised Store, which is expected to be commissioned in 2013, will include facilities for the treatment of radioactive sources, as well as storage areas to accommodate at least 50 years' worth of Ukrainian SRS.
With the facility capable of storing up to 400,000 SRS, radioactive sources which are currently being held in the vicinity of large cities across Ukraine can now be removed, resulting in a significant enhancement in the level of security and a reduction in environmental risks.
This project is one of the priority programmes to address the threat of illicit nuclear trafficking and is part of a wider international programme to ensure safe and secure management of SRS in Ukraine.