Chornobyl’s old spent fuel storage facility can operate safely for another ten years

The spent nuclear fuel storage facility (ISF-1) at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) can safely operate for at least another ten years, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate (SNRIU) confirmed on Thursday.

On December 11, the SNRIU Board acknowledged the possibility of safe operation of ISF-1 until the next periodic safety review, scheduled for December 31, 2034, provided that necessary safety improvements are implemented.

ISF-1 is a temporary wet storage facility that was commissioned immediately after the 1986 accident.

During the operation of the Chornobyl NPP from 1971 to 2000, over 21,000 spent fuel assemblies were accumulated and stored in the spent fuel pool.

In 2021, a new dry spent fuel storage facility, ISF-2, was officially commissioned at the Chornobyl zone with a service life of up to 100 years.The new facility is designed to accept, prepare, and directly store all spent nuclear fuel from the Chornobyl NPP. The construction of ISF-2 and the transfer of all spent nuclear fuel there is one of the key conditions for decommissioning the Chornobyl NPP.

At the time, it was reported that the transportation of fuel from ISF-1 to ISF-2 would take about ten years.

Experts also note that used fuel could still be recycled if more cost-effective processing technologies become available in the future.