INUDECO 2024: Experience of Ukraine’s Nuclear Industry in War Conditions
From 24 to 26 April 2024, the X International Conference “Problems of Decommissioning of Nuclear Energy Facilities and Environmental Recovery” INUDECO 2024 was held in Slavutych.
One of the main tasks of the Conference was to analyze the war experience in Ukraine, in particular in the nuclear field, as well as the first consequences of nuclear terrorism and ecocide. Yuriy Fomichev, Mayor of Slavutych, and Anatoliy Nosovsky, Co-Chairman of the Conference Organizing Committee, emphasized the importance of the event and its contribution to improving the safety of nuclear facilities in wartime.
Three days of the Conference combined two international panels, five sections and ten countries. The event was attended by 130 people who presented 73 reports.
The first panel, “Nuclear Threat to Ukraine and the World: Consequences of the Occupation of Zaporizhzhia NPP,” was organized jointly with the Ukrainian Nuclear Society.
Dmytro Verbytskyi, Acting Director General of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, reported on the current state of the plant after two years of malicious occupation by the russian federation, technical state and unperformed overhauls of equipment that ensures safety functions, and proposed effective steps to restore nuclear and radiation safety after the de-occupation of the power plant.
Nataliia Rybalka, Director of the SNRIU Department on Safety of Radiation Technologies and Radioactive Waste Management, Deputy Chief State Inspector for Nuclear and Radiation Safety of Ukraine, highlighted the regulatory challenges during the war in Ukraine and the experience of the nuclear industry. The report presented the consequences of the occupation and criminal actions on the territory of ZNPP, Chornobyl Exclusion Zone and facilities containing nuclear and radiation materials, demonstrated the results of their elimination and emphasized the importance of international support as well as the need for cooperation with foreign partners on the safety and security of Ukrainian nuclear facilities.
The first international panel included five Sections.
During the Section “Challenges to the Safety and Resilience of the Energy Sector in the War Conditions”, Maksym Shevchuk, Deputy Head of the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management, presented the results of a year’s work on eliminating the consequences of the presence of russian troops on the Chornobyl NPP site and adjacent territories, progress in restoring and improving physical protection of the containment, and upgraded dosimetric monitoring equipment.
Tom Scott, a researcher from the University of Bristol, UK, presented the Titanium Project, a training initiative. He emphasized that the project is aimed at training Ukrainian nuclear experts to characterize nuclear facilities in detail, including the tracking and localization of active materials. “We are teaching new technologies, visualization and, most importantly, methodology to identify radiation materials and their distribution at a nuclear facility,” said Tom Scott.
The Section “Innovation in Energy: Sustainable Development, Green Energy, New Technologies” combined hot topics that are currently the subject of global discussion: the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the energy sector and criteria for selecting SMR sites.
Olga Korneva highlighted the prospects of AI in her report, noting the advantages and opportunities that our foreign colleagues have already discovered and how we can improve the safety and efficiency of the Ukrainian nuclear industry.
Viktor Mashynistov from the Ukrainian State University of Science and Technology presented a study on the possibility of using gamma radiation to detect mines. The scientist noted: “By conducting spectroscopy of the ground, it is possible to detect a different spectrum than that of the soil itself, provided that there is a mine or other object. The resulting signal will be returned to the sensor and compared with the emission spectrum of known mines.”
During the research, a prototype has already been constructed and tested on an alloy similar to that used in mines.
In addition, in the framework of this international panel, a Section “Ecocide: What is the war impact on the environment in Ukraine” was organized jointly with the NGO “European Chornobyl Institute”.
The Conference ended with the second international panel “Nuclear Security and Military Conflict”, organized jointly with the Black Sea Woman in Nuclear Network.
During the Conference, a charity fundraiser was held to raise funds to be transferred to the rehabilitation department of the Slavutych City Hospital to the Human Clinic Rehabilitation Center and to repair the shelter used by children athletes during the All-Ukrainian competitions held in Slavutych.
Uatom.org Editorial Board