On May 28, an official handover ceremony for the license for the “operation of a nuclear facility” life cycle stage of the Centralized Spent Fuel Storage Facility (CSFSF) took place at the CSFSF site. Oleh Korikiov, Head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, handed over the relevant permitting documents to Pavlo Kovtonyuk, Acting CEO of the operator – JSC “NNEGC “Energoatom”.
The license confirms that the technologies, infrastructure, safety systems, and personnel of the Storage Facility comply with the highest nuclear and radiation safety requirements, as well as international standards in the field of spent nuclear fuel management.
“Obtaining the license to operate the CSFSF confirms the capability of the Ukrainian nuclear industry to implement large-scale and technologically complex projects in accordance with the highest global safety standards. The operation of the facility over the next 100 years will strengthen energy resilience of Ukrainian nuclear generation, guarantee a reliable management of spent nuclear fuel, and provide the state with a significant economic benefit – every year Ukraine saves about USD 200 million, which were previously spent on exporting fuel abroad,” Pavlo Kovtonyuk emphasized.
The decision to grant the license granting became the result of a state nuclear and radiation safety assessment for the justification of the application for license and inspection investigation of the operator.
“Granting a license for the “operation of a nuclear facility” life cycle stage of the CSFSF marks the completion of the process of creating Ukraine’s national system of safe spent fuel management. Crucially, the operation of the CSFSF will ensure compliance with the nuclear and radiation safety requirements, as well as the IAEA standards. Congratulations on this event, and I wish you zero accident operation,” Head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate said.
Prior to the granting of this license, the Centralized Spent Fuel Storage Facility operated based on a separate license for commissioning.
Today’s event is another justification of the high level of technological preparedness, reliability of safety systems and professionalism of Energoatom staff.
