PREDIS Project (Pre-disposal management of radioactive waste) is aimed to develop and improve methods and processes for safer processing and conditioning of waste for which suitable or industrially mature solutions aren’t available at the moment.
This is a four-year project with the total budget 24 million euros, of which EC contribution is 14 million euros. The project is implemented by a consortium of 47 leading institutes and organizations from 17 European countries, including Ukraine - (participants: the National Science Center “Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology” (KIPT) and the Institute of Environmental Geochemistry of the NASU). The Project initiator is VTT Technical Research Center of Finland.
Prerequisites for such a large-scale project is the current situation, when more and more historical sites became subject to clean up, NPP’s fleet in Europe is moving towards decommissioning, and increasing amount of radioactive waste should be pre-processed before its final geological disposal.
During four years the project participants will consider and study innovative and state-of-art technologies to improve low- and intermediate level radioactive waste management, with an emphasis on processing of the metal materials, liquid organic waste and solid organic waste, which can be generated as a result of NPPs operation and decommissioning, as well as other production processes.
Chornobyl NPP joined the project as one of 30 end users from 14 countries, and has already submitted its proposals regarding the existing radioactive waste management problems encountered during decommissioning.
PREDIS project will provide practical guidance on waste form qualification processes and on formulation of general Waste Acceptance Criteria applicable for storage and disposal. In addition, tools for decision-making on the specific practical benefits of the developed technologies, their impact on various aspects, including designing, safety, environmental impact, will be developed; economic components of waste management before and during disposal will be studied as well.