Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

Radiation background in the Administrative building area is in average 65 microrentgens per hour, in the Shelter object's Observation pavilion area - 1,08 myllyrentgens per hour.
Controllable parameters of the Shelter object are within the limits established by Operational Regulations. According to monitoring systems data the maximal value of gamma - radiation rate inside the object has made 3403 Rontgens per hour, temperature near to Fuel Containing Materials is +29 degrees on Celsius. Exceeding of control levels of Shelter object condition parameters is not fixed.

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Safety Assurance

State Specialized Enterprise " Chernobyl NPP" ensures maintenance in safe condition shutdown Units 1, 2, 3, "Shelter" object and facilities of Chernobyl NPP’s industrial site.
Chernobyl NPP is located at Exclusion Zone territory with high levels of radioactive contamination. ChNPP structure includes three Units with RBMK – 1000 reactor installations with electric capacity 1000 MW each, "Shelter" object - engineering construction localizing destroyed as a result of beyond designed accident Unit 4, spent nuclear fuel storage, RAW storage, starting-up reserve heating plant, a cooling pond and other facilities and systems of an infrastructure.

Unit 1 is finally shutdown in November 30, 1996 and it is at the stage of the operation termination.
Reactor installation is borough in the status of "final shutdown".

Unit 2 is shutdown in October 11, 1991 as a result of a fire occurance in a turbine hall.
Reactor installation is borough in the status of "final shutdown".

Unit 3 was shutdown in December 15, 2000 according to the Decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "On ahead of schedule power Unit 3 shutdown and Chernobyl NPP final closure".
SF removal from the reactor core is completed. Works on Unit 3 reactor installation bringing in the status of "final shutdown" are under way. It is planed to complete this works in 2009.

Shelter Object represents the set of the constructions formed from damaged constructions of Unit 4 and from constructed after the accident new constructions and systems serving for the monitoring and post accidental situation management. The "Shelter" object is determined as destroyed by beyond designed accident Unit 4 on which immediate measures on accident consequences elimination and on its condition monitoring assurance are executed by Decision of the State Regulatory Body. According to the document "Radiation Safety Norms of Ukraine (RSNU-97/D-2000) the "Shelter" object is classified as: "temporary surface storage (temporary storage) of unorganized RAW".

Fuel Containing Materials condition monitoring and radionuclides content in air, water and air stream (approximately 20000 samples per year), the monitoring of a building constructions condition, the radiation-technological monitoring are provided at the "Shelter" object. Data of information measuring system "Finish", FCM monitoring system "Signal" are used with the purpose of the "Shelter" Nuclear and Radiation Safety monitoring. Experimental system " Pilot " is in operation.

It is provided procedural maintenance of the Shelter object - dust suppression in destroyed reactor (12 times per year) and in Shelter’s premises, dust suppressive compositions application, decontamination of premises, equipment, surrounding territory, maintenance and repair of the equipment.

All current and transforming activity at the Shelter object is aimed on protection of the personnel, the population and an environment against influence of radioactive materials, presenting in the Shelter and on its industrial site.

The shutdown Chernobyl NPP remains to be a Nuclear Facility. In the view of Safety it continues to be in the same legal and procedural environment as an operational nuclear plants.

The principal goal of the State Specialized Enterprise “Chernobyl NPP” consists in Nuclear and Radiation Safety assurance during all stages of Units decommissioning and Shelter object transformation into ecologically safe system.
Administration of the enterprise has made a statement on a policy in the Safety and Quality field. It is noted in it, that top priority for all officials there is a Nuclear and Radiation Safety assurance during all kinds of activity performance. Chernobyl NPP assures, that nuclear materials, the equipment, technologies will be used exclusively in the peace purposes and with minimally allowable influence on an environment.

The decision on Power Units decommission and Chernobyl NPP final closure has been made before Units design resource exhausting, that has no analogues in domestic nuclear engineering practice. Normative base of Ukraine and branch standards in sphere of nuclear installations decommissioning require subsequent improvement and development with the purpose of more complete requirements regulation to NPPs life cycle stages and to kinds of activity, implementing by operating organization during these stages.
In connection with absence not only national but also world experience in liquidation of accidents consequences similar to the accident of 1986, Shelter object transformation into ecologically safe system is the most difficult task. Shelter object’s peculiarity is presence of Fuel Containing Materials, representing long-term hazard for the actual and future generations in its premises.
ChNPP decommissioning demands parallel performance of works on Units preparation for decommissioning and decommissioning. That includes construction of necessary facilities for Spent Fuel (SF) and RAW Management, new technologies and equipment application, Shelter object stabilization measures realization, necessary normative and technical, design and operational documentation development and so forth.
Chernobyl NPP Power Units are shutdown. However, the task of Safety assurance as well as earlier remains to be topical.