Ukrainian Experts Work in Canada to Develop IAEA Roadmap for Construction of Geological Repository for Radioactive Waste Disposal for Thousands of Years

The Ukrainian delegation led by Vitaliy Petruk, Head of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management (SAEZ), in cooperation with Yuri Shybetskyi, representative of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, participated in the IAEA meeting on the development of the Roadmap for the Construction of a Deep Geological Repository for Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste. The event was held in Ottawa, Canada.

Participants of the meeting of the IAEA member countries, particularly the United States, Canada, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Slovakia, Germany, France, Switzerland, Japan and India presented best practices in site selection for deep geological repositories, their design and construction.

The Ukrainian delegation presented a report “Capabilities in Using the Roadmap for the Construction Program of Deep Geological Repository in Ukraine”.

“The best international experience and the Roadmap developed with the participation of specialists and scientists from many countries will be useful for Ukraine in solving the issue on radioactive waste management. The Roadmap project contains a very important and useful information. Recommendations defined in this document will be used as an Action Plan for the construction of own deep geological repository. The period starting from repository construction until its filling and closure makes up over 100 years; different countries are at different stages of this process. It is important for Ukraine to take into account the main world achievements and experience in implementing the construction program of deep geological repository in order to optimize the costs for own program, as we are at the initial stage of this process”, Vitaliy Petruk said.

According to Yuri Shybetskyi, scientists and specialists who will be engaged into the implementation of their own program in Ukraine believe that it is important to specify in detail the content of work and its implementation phases. At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that this work is aimed exactly at safety justification of geological disposal.

According to expert opinion, the final disposal of high-level radioactive waste in deep geological repositories will solve the safety issue for hundreds of thousands of years.

It necessary to add that SAEZ specialists met officials in the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada, where they discussed the development of the exclusion zone (in particular, scientific research in this area) and the system of radioactive waste management in Ukraine.

During this meeting, the representatives of the Embassy expressed their support and emphasized the importance of cooperation with Ukraine in this field.

According to SAEZ Press Service