Waste Storage Site

As well as managing spent fuel and radioactive waste as the Chernobyl power plant is decommissioned, the accident means Ukraine must deal with huge amounts of contaminated soil, rubble, equipment and other radioactive materials. buryakivka is one of several waste storage and disposal facilities in the Exclusion Zone.Created soon after the accident, the buryakivka site receives a steady stream of trucks bringing tonnes of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste from the power plant site and elsewhere in the Exclusion Zone.Trucks queue to enter the buryakivka facility. Until recently the site was receiving roughly 15,000-17,000 cubic metres of waste per year, but the annual load rose last year to two or three times that amount because of excavation and other preparatory work for the New Safe Confinement shelter for Unit 4.Truck drivers wear face masks throughout the journey and while delivering their loads, to avoid inhaling radioactive particles.Each truck-load that arrives at buryakivka is analysed to identify what type of contamination it contains.The read-out for one load shows it is contaminated with caesium-137 and strontium-90, plus smaller traces of americium-241 and various plutonium isotopes.The waste is buried in complex clay-lined trenches, which are then sealed over and marked with warning signs within a secure perimeter. Most of the original 30 trenches are now full, but a new project plans to create further storage in the space between the old trenches.
Last update: 17 October 2014

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