The Rosatom State Corporation continues to systematically clear the Arctic coastline of hazardous nuclear fuel. As part of this work, the 22nd batch of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) formed as a result of the operation of nuclear power installations of nuclear submarines was removed from the storage facility in Andreyeva Bay (Murmansk Region).
According to Vasily Tinin, Director for State Policy in the Field of Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel, the storage facility in Andreyeva Bay has become the last facility with a dangerous nuclear legacy on the coast of the Kola Bay. Initially, there were more than 100 sets of reactor cores here: about almost 20 thousand fuel assemblies. About 14 thousand assemblies have been removed.
The SNF removal project has become complex, as specialists face a large number of substandard assemblies that require an individual approach and special technical solutions. Specialists plan to complete the removal of fuel from Andreyeva Bay by the beginning of the next decade. It is sent for processing to the Mayak Production Association.
Rosatom is actively working to eliminate potentially hazardous facilities in the Arctic, demonstrating a commitment to environmental protection. 204 nuclear submarines have been decommissioned, and the volume of accumulated SNF in the Murmansk Region has been reduced by more than half.
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