The Law of Ukraine “On the National Targeted Environmental Program for Radioactive Waste Management”
Date of entry into force: October 17, 2008
The present Law shall adopt the National Targeted Environmental Program for Radioactive Waste Management (hereinafter referred to as the Program).
The Program shall provide for activities, in particular, in the following key areas: · management of radioactive waste at the grounds of enterprises where it is generated and at specialized enterprises for managing radioactive waste until the moment of its disposal; · disposal of radioactive waste.
Management of radioactive waste shall provide for: · carrying out description, classification and forecasting of radioactive waste generation; · collecting radioactive waste; · carrying out preliminary processing, treatment and conditioning of radioactive waste; · transporting radioactive waste; · carrying out temporary storage of radioactive waste; · providing companies that shall generate radioactive waste and specialized enterprises with the necessary quantity of the relevant containers; · implementing measures to minimize the volumes of radioactive waste generation; · tracking and overseeing radioactive waste generation.
It shall be established that the scope of the present Program shall not apply to management of: · exhaust nuclear fuel, waste of the uranium-mining industry and the uranium-processing industry that, according to the legislation, shall not be identified as radioactive waste; · the sources of ionizing radiation before their transfer to specialized enterprises for long-term storage.
It shall be stipulated that activities related to management of radioactive waste have resulted in the emergence of such a problem as the need to create elements of the infrastructure for management of radioactive waste (in particular, radioactive waste storage facilities, containers and equipment) and an integrated system for management of radioactive waste. The present Program shall identify three options for the solution of the above-mentioned problem.
To tackle the problem of management of radioactive waste, it shall be provided for the fulfillment of the key objectives of the present Program which, in particular, shall include: · building, launching into operation and operating the system “Vektor”; · providing for further development of the system for management of radioactive waste that shall be generated as a result of operation of Ukrainian atomic energy stations, and minimizing the volumes of radioactive waste generation; · designing, building and operating a storage facility for intermediate storage of high-level radioactive waste that shall be returned from the Russian Federation after the treatment of exhaust nuclear fuel of Ukrainian atomic energy stations; · providing for further development of the system for management of radioactive waste that was generated as a result of the Chornobyl catastrophe; · re-equipping and re-shaping special integrated complexes of the state-owned corporation “Ukrainian State-Owned Association ‘Radon’” for the purpose of creating conditions for collection and temporary container-based storage of radioactive waste; · providing for further development of the state system for tracking radioactive waste; · providing for radiation safety and implementing antiradiation measures at the time of managing radioactive waste, reducing staff radiation exposure at specialized enterprises and radiation exposure of the population; · training personnel and carrying out information and public awareness campaigns; · creating and providing for the functioning of infrastructure for management of radioactive waste at the Chornobyl Atomic Energy Station and the object “Ukryttia” (Shelter); · developing regulatory and legislative base in the area of managing radioactive waste, carrying out research and scientific work, as well as design and engineering activities, preparing a national report on the fulfillment of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management; · fulfilling a set of exploratory, evaluation, scientific and methodical, research and designing works to select grounds for placing a geological storage facility for the disposal of long-lived and high-level radioactive waste; · tackling the issue of management of radioactive waste that was generated as a result of implementing military programs of the USSR; · expanding international cooperation in the area of management of radioactive waste.
The present Program shall provide for the development and implementation of organizational, scientific and methodical, technical, financial and economic measures to create a uniform system for management of radioactive waste on the basis of organizing its comprehensive treatment with the maximum utilization of the existing facilities and the construction of a centralized storage facility for the disposal of short-lived radioactive waste and, and mandatory construction of a geological storage facility for the disposal of longlived radioactive waste.
The main results of implementing the present Program shall be the provision for safety of the current generation and future generations, as well as the enhancement of the level of natural environmental protection from the detrimental impact of radioactive waste, the improvement of the system for radioactive waste management, the lowering of the level of social and psychological tension related to the elimination of the aftereffects of the disaster at the Chornobyl Atomic Energy Station, the prevention of the committal of acts of terrorism and the creation of favorable conditions for continuing the utilization of nuclear energy for the generation of electric energy for the purpose of raising the living standards of the population.
It shall be established that measures envisaged by the present Program shall be implemented at the expense of funds of the State Budget of Ukraine, funds of the State Fund for Radioactive Waste Management, funds of international technical assistance, as well as other sources of financing that shall not be prohibited by the legislation. The approximate volume of financing for the present Program shall constitute UAH 5,247.5 million. The annual volume of expenditures on implementing measures envisaged by the present Program shall be adjusted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine according to the law of Ukraine on the State Budget of Ukraine for the relevant year and to priorities of the present Program. The overall volume of development expenditures to implement the present Program over 2008-2017 shall constitute 73.8 percent of budget allocations.
The present Program shall include three Appendices that shall respectively identify: · the passport of the present Program; · the list of objectives and measures to implement the present Program; · the expected results of the implementation of the present Program.