Kola Peninsula Radwaste Management in the Framework of the Italian-Russian Cooperation Agreement for Global Partnership

In 2003 a Cooperation Agreement, envisaging a grant of 360 Meuro in 10 years, was signed between Italy and Russia in the framework of the “so-called” Global Partnership Program. So far, in five years of concrete work, a total of 146 Meuro have been engaged through 33 contracts and 121 Meuro have been already paid. Together with other significant lines of activities the management of waste, presently located at Andreeva Bay site, is surely the most important one, not only for the amount of allocated funds (about the half of available ones) but also for the urgency to solve serious environmental problems linked to the actual unsafe conditions of these waste, both as regards possible incidents or malicious attacks from outside. Volume of Low Level and Intermediate Level (LL/IL) waste at Andreeva Bay site are 17000 tons and 3000 tons, respectively for solid and liquid; moreover is expected, during the next 15 years, the production of additional 33000 tons of liquid and 8000 tons of solid, due to the need of demolishing existing facilities and final closing of the site. As regards radwaste management facilities, the solution defined in OBIN (justification of investment) has been analyzed and critically reviewed. After the completion of a conceptual study, the construction of three facilities (solid and liquid treatment ones and a protective structure for storing on site temporarily conditioned waste) was decided and a contract was assigned in 2010 to Ansaldo Nucleare/AtomStroyExport for the detailed design of the above mentioned facilities, which is expected to be completed in 2012. Some important modifications to the initial time schedule have been taken into account and now the operation of the facilities is expected by 2015, two years before the previous estimate.