According to Sergej Krutovcov, Director of Ignalina NPP Decommissioning Department, 2015-2028 will be the critical period for the decommissioning process. Disassembly of reactor equipment, which is planned to be completed by 2035, is one of the hardest tasks. Demolishing the reactor zone is a continuous process during which particularly hazardous materials will be uncovered. Because of this, from the technological and nuclear safety standpoint, the process may only be started if resources are available for its completion, he said.
State enterprise Ignalinos Atominė Elektrinė (Ignalina NPP) has announced that since 2010 until now over 21,800 tonnes of equipment and related structures have been disassembled, i.e., 16.8 percent of the total amount of equipment to undergo disassembly.
The extent of decommissioning work has grown every year since Ignalina NPP ceased operating. In 2014, a total of 7,188 tonnes of equipment and related structures were dismantled. A similar amount is expected to be disassembled in 2015.
Based on the final Ignalina NPP decommissioning plan, a total of 129,700 tonnes of equipment and related structures are to be disassembled.
Most of the dismantled equipment will be tested for radionuclide toxicity and sold as scrap. The rest will be temporarily stored in the buffer storage in the company’s territory until it is moved for burial in disposal facilities.
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