EUR33.3 million contract for Chernobyl radioactive waste management facility

The construction of this facility is part of the European Union’s efforts to ensure the decommissioning of the power plant and its replacement with more environment-friendly and safer power plants. The facility which will be established by this project will be known as the Industrial Complex for Solid Radwaste Management (ICSRM), and will consist of a solid waste retrieval facility, a solid waste processing plant, and a repository for the disposal of short-lived waste.

Since 1994, the European Commission has provided the Ukraine with EUR340 million (£216 million) in technical assistance in order to push forward the decommissioning of the Chernobyl power plant. Funds have been used to close down the three remaining nuclear reactors at Chernobyl, the last of which closed last December (see related story), and for the design of a shelter to replace the structure that currently seals off the destroyed reactor.