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This is an archived page. Please visit the new Ukraine country profile
Ukraine: Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste
Spent fuel is generally stored on site in cooling ponds at the nuclear power plants at which the fuel assemblies were used. Ukraine previously sent its spent fuel to Russia to be reprocessed, but this course became a contentious issue after Russia passed a law in 1992 prohibiting the import of radioactive material into Russia. This action resulted in storage crisis at Ukrainian power plants. In 6/93, however, Russia passed a new law that allows Ukrainian spent fuel to be reprocessed, but not stored, in Russia. The law does not allow the import of nuclear waste into Russia, but allows the import of Russian-origin spent fuel as long as the resulting waste is returned to the territory of the state which delivered it.[1,2] TEMPORARY STORAGE AGREEMENT Reportedly, Russia and Ukraine have signed an unpublicized agreement in which Ukraine may continue to store its spent fuel and waste in Russia for two years. This agreement was based on two prior agreements signed by Russia and Ukraine in 1/93 and Ukraine's pledge to place all of its peaceful nuclear activities under IAEA safeguards. The agreement stipulates that the spent fuel and radioactive waste can be temporarily stored in Russia, after which the waste is to be returned to Ukraine. In 5/95 Ukraine again began shipping its spent fuel to Russia for reprocessing. Approximately 265 tons of spent fuel are produced each year at all of the NPPs in Ukraine.[3] SPENT FUEL AND RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE SITES There are six spent fuel storage sites and many low-level radioactive waste storage sites, including the Chornobyl zone, in Ukraine. On 6/30/95 a Law on the Handling of Radioactive Waste was passed by the Supreme Rada which establishes the Ministry of Chornobyl Affairs (now a part of the Ministry for Emergency Situations) as the state agency responsible for licensing storage of radioactive waste. The law also determines the liability of individuals found guilty of violating the newly established radioactive waste management norms and establishes the public's right for compensation in the case of improper handling of nuclear waste by the state or its licensee. Article 4 of the Law states that financing for the handling of radioactive materials comes from a special State Fund for the Handling of Radioactive Waste. According to the Law, enterprises contribute to the Fund in proportion to the amount of waste they produce. Until the Fund is set up, the government will finance the handling of radioactive waste from resources allocated for RADON and Chornobyl management.[4,5] STATE PROGRAM The Ukrainian government in 1996 approved a state program
for radioactive waste management through 2005 which will
be under the direction of the Ministry of Chornobyl
Affairs (now the Ministry for Emergency Situations). This
program will establish a national accounting system for
nuclear waste and will provide for the construction of
radioactive waste repositories and the reconstruction of
existing radioactive waste management facilities.
According to the program, spent fuel will continue to be
stored in on-site pools until 2005. A central geological
repository for spent fuel and high-level waste will be
sought in 1996-97. By 2000, a draft project will be ready
for an underground storage facility, which will be built
between 2008 and 2020. The program also envisages the
decontamination of 1500 hectares of land containing over
150,000 curies of activity at mining
and milling sites. The chief of the information and
analysis center for waste integration at the state
association RADON will coordinate these tasks.[6,7] Last updated May 1997 
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For more recent information on spent fuel and radioactive waste developments
in Ukraine, please see the 