Commencement of Metal Decontamination Facility operation

In August 2020, the pilot operation stage of abrasive blasting metal decontamination facility has been started in the Chornobyl NPP Turbine Hall.

In fact, the facility is a complex of specialized equipment designed for decontamination of equipment surfaces with the compressed air and shot blast.

This complex will be used for decontamination of the dismantled equipment and metal structures, which can be reused for repair and construction works at ChNPP industrial site and at the Shelter Object.

“The facility represents a box divided into contaminated and “clean” zones (before and after decontamination, respectively), where the fragments are subjected to shot blasting decontamination by supply of air and shot under high pressure, removing the upper layer and decontaminating the material”, - said Oleksandr Titarchuk, Head of the Decommissioning Shop, commenting on the facility operation.

The commissioning of the facility will allow, first of all, to consistently reduce the degree of radiation hazard of the facilities located at ChNPP industrial site and Shelter Object, as well as the dose load on personnel during the work on ChNPP decommissioning. In addition, due to the use of the facility, it is expected that the volume of radioactive waste generated in the process of ChNPP decommissioning will reduce, and, accordingly, the cost of RAW management (storage, processing, disposal) will decrease.

This is the state-of-the-art technology up to date, as compared to sand-blasting decontamination. Unlike sand-blasting decontamination, the process is based on metal shot which is the end product and does not require a special temperature regime (heating), and thus significantly minimizes secondary radioactive waste during decontamination.

This complex will be used to minimize the amount of radioactive waste at ChNPP and reduce areas for radioactive waste storage.