At its meeting held on 9 May 2024, the SNRIU Board considered the state of functioning of the national radioactive waste management (RW) operator, The State Specialized Enterprise “Central Enterprise for Radioactive Waste Management” (SSE “CERWM”), and the state of implementation of tasks and measures for the establishment and operation of elements of the integrated radioactive waste management system in Ukraine in the exclusion zone at the stage of long-term storage and disposal in accordance with the requirements of the SNRIU.
Establishment of radioactive waste management facilities in the Exclusion Zone to ensure the final stage of nuclear energy use is a key element of radioactive waste management system development in Ukraine and a prerequisite for sustainable development of the national nuclear energy sector, in general, for Ukraine's compliance with the basic international principles of safety in the use of nuclear energy, fulfilment of international obligations under the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management
In her report, Natalia Rybalka, Director of the SNRIU Department on Radiation Technology Safety and Radioactive Waste Management, emphasized the need to intensify actions of the state management body in the field of radioactive waste management - the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management (SAUEZM) to promote effective functioning of the national radioactive waste management operator and create prerequisites for the development of the radioactive waste management system in the Exclusion Zone. In particular, it is necessary to ensure updating of tasks and measures of the National Target Environmental Programme for Radioactive Waste Management, taking into account proposals and comments of stakeholders, and approval of this programme in accordance with the established procedure.
The operating organisation, SSE “CERWM”, should intensify the implementation of the necessary measures for the establishment and safe operation of radioactive waste disposal facilities and other facilities intended for radioactive waste management in the Exclusion Zone, as well as measures to maintain safe condition of facilities that contain large amounts of Chornobyl-origin emergency radioactive waste.
SSE “CERWM” is subordinated to SAUEZM and is the only operating organisation in Ukraine at all stages of the life cycle of radioactive waste disposal facilities and carries out activities for processing, storage and disposal of radioactive waste in the Exclusion Zone (except for the Chornobyl NPP site).
The Board, in particular, recommended the SNRIU to inform the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the status of implementation of tasks and measures to establish and operate the radioactive waste management system in the Exclusion Zone.