Rosatom to Invest 4.8 billion rubles in Liquid Waste Processing at Siberian Chemical Plant

Leonid Reznikov, Deputy Governor, reports at Tomsk Region Duma Assembly on Thursday, that “Rosatom” State Corporation will invest 4.8 billion rubles in processing of liquid radioactive waste (LRW) at Siberian Chemical Plant (SCP), which will make it possible to abandon the practices of subsurface waste injection.

According to him, this is planned as the second stage of construction of the uranium conversion facility on the basis of SCP.

“The first stage with the expenditures of 7.2 billion rubles is the basic technology. The second stage with the expenditure of 4.8 billion rubles is carried out for processing LRW with the purpose of reducing its volumes, processing it into safer solid waste, which, when stored, does not harm the environment. This will make it possible for us to completely abandon the existing practices of subsurface waste injection”, Reznikov pointed out.

Rosatom has made a decision to make SCP the main centre for production of uranium hexafluoride, the gas which is used in uranium enrichment, further implemented for production of fuel for atomic power plants. Construction was to be started at the end of 2013, commissioning was to take place in 2016. However, SCP head announced that the construction would be postponed for 1-2 years, as the market had declined following the accident at “Fukushima-1” Atomic Plant.

The new plant is to be placed to the south of the existing radiochemical plant of SCP. It will have refining-oxidation process, sublimation process and fluorine production process, as well as uranium- and fluorine-containing waste processing. In future, there can also be other processes of the nuclear fuel cycle initial stage.

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• November
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