On September 17, Chornobyl NPP agreed with the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine the required documentation to start a pilot operation of the facility for materials release from regulatory control.

The facility is the last stage of the radioactive materials management process. It will allow substantiating the possibility of materials release from regulatory control and returning them to industrial use using the spectrometric measurements. In other words, the facility will confirm that the previously contaminated metal is completely decontaminated and now is safe for reuse outside the Exclusion Zone.

The program of pilot operation stipulates a preliminary procedure for adjustment of all the necessary modes. The capacity of the facility is 10 tons per day, and it will be achieved during pilot operation.

Read more: Free Release Facility tests commenced

Leonid Yakovenko, Head of Chornobyl NPP Radiation Safety Shop, comments on the pilot operation start: "At the stage of this permit obtaining, we performed a large scope of work. First of all, this is the determination of a nuclide vector. Besides, a pilot operation Program was developed and several Enterprise Standards were created.

Currently, ChNPP Radiation Safety Shop is fully staffed with duly trained personnel, who obtained permission to perform work at the facility".

The direct start of the pilot operation of the facility is scheduled for September 29, and it will be performed within one year.