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Chornobyl Timeline: Safety Activities and Shelter Improvement

Explore the timeline of events surrounding the Chornobyl disaster in Ukraine, including safety activities, cooperative projects, and efforts to improve the unstable Chornobyl shelter. Learn about the radiological impact, evacuation, and ongoing risks.

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Chornobyl Timeline: Safety Activities and Shelter Improvement

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  1. Chornobyl, Ukraine April 15,1998

  2. Chornobyl Time Line • 1986 -- Chornobyl Disaster • Alerted world to safety threat of Soviet-designed reactors • 1991 -- Soviet Union Breakup • Provided opportunity for cooperative safety activities • 1992 -- Lisbon Initiative • Multiple bilateral agreements for cooperative safety projects • Fire at Chornobyl • “Temporary” closure of Unit 2 • 1994 -- • Jan. -- “No assistance to Chornobyl” (3 units continue to operate) • ~April -- Lash assumes NE Director role • Oct. -- PNNL accepts lead role for INSP IG98040040.2

  3. Chornobyl Time Line (Cont.) • 1995 -- • May • Presidential endorsement of bilateral agreement • Creation of Chornobyl Center • Safety upgrades at Unit 3 • July • Agreements on specific safety upgrades • December • G-7/Ukraine MOU for Chornobyl Closure by 2000 • Fix Shelter • Final completion of K2-R4 • Modernization of power industry IG98040040.3

  4. Chornobyl Time Line (Cont.) • 1996 • April -- US Delegation tours shelter • Safety and health conditions for workers “intolerable” • May • Technical team performs Shelter needs assessment • International Shelter Project initiated • August - Bilateral projects initiated at Shelter • Hanford experts • October - International Shelter Study Report completed • Accepted by G-7 and Ukraine in December IG98040040.4

  5. Chornobyl Time Line (Cont.) • 1997 • January - SIP initiated • May - SIP completed • $760 million/ 8-year project • July - G-7 pledges $300 million • Dedication of Chornobyl Center in Slavutych • Nov/Dec - Kutchma/Gore Pledging Conference In New York • $87 million additional pledged • 22 countries now participating IG98040040.5

  6. Chornobyl Time Line (Cont.) • 1998 • December - SIP RFPs issued by ChNPP • February - Chornobyl Center facility completed • May - Bechtel/EDF/Battelle win competitive bid IG98040040.6

  7. The Chornobyl Accident • April 26, 1986, Ukraine's ChNPP Unit 4 reactor sustained a tremendous surge in reactor power • Ruptured the reactor's fuel rods and pressure tubes • Steam explosion lifted the reactor core and the 2,000-ton shielding block 14 m (45 ft) • Explosion destroyed 3/4 of reactor building, & spewed hot fragments of graphite and reactor fuel from the core, starting ~ 30 fires in nearby buildings • Radioactive dust/gases (~50 megacuries) • Contaminated > 60,000 miles2 of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia (State of Washington = 68,000 square miles) IG98040040.7

  8. Chornobyl Accident - April 1986 • 31 people died as a result of intense radiation exposure from the Unit 4 accident • All people (about 116,000) within a 30-km zone around the plant were evacuated and relocated • The town of Pripyat was closed and citizens working at the plant were relocated to Slavutych • Completed in 1987 • 40 km from plant • Population 26,000 IG98040040.8

  9. Chornobyl Accident - April 1986 • Radiation Deposition • Radioactive release was 200 times greater than that of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined • Contaminated areas: Belarus - 25%, Ukraine - 5%, and Russia - 0.5%. • The contaminated area of Ukraine and Belarus is about 61,780 square miles- the size of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland combined • Crops, milk, and livestock were destroyed in Austria, Hungary, Germany, Poland, and Nordic countries • More than 400,000 emergency personnel worked to alleviate the immediate consequences of the accident • Ukraine has spent 12%of National budget since 1991 on Chornobyl-related activities IG98040040.9

  10. Chornobyl Accident - April 1986 • Disaster continued to release radioisotopes to the environment • Enclosed ruined reactor with 20-story steel and concrete "shelter” built in 7 months • Shelter has questionable foundation and shows cracks/holes • Fuel “corium” is degrading to radioactive, respirable dust • Shelter is unstable and could collapse, injuring workers and spreading radioactive dust • Total radionuclide activity still contained by shelter is substantially reduced today IG98040040.10

  11. Improve Nuclear Safety in FSU • Mission - reduce risks at Soviet-designed nuclear power plants and assist host countries in developing sustainable internationally accepted safety practices. • Range of Activities • Operation Safety • Emergency Operating Instructions, training, simulators, safety maintenance, nondestructive evaluation • Safety Systems • Safety parameter display system, fire safety, confinement, emergency feedwater • Safety Analysis • Training, tools, evaluation • Regulatory and Institution • Liabilities, separate authorities IG98040040.11

  12. Solving Problems of the Chornobyl Shelter • A team of Ukrainian and international experts proposed measures to prevent shelter collapse and contain reactor dust • May 1997, the international team proposed the Shelter Implementation Plan • SIP estimated at ~ $760 million over eight-years • To support developing the Shelter Implementation Plan, the U.S. team, led by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, provided substantial technical support and led development of the plan's cost and schedule estimates. IG98040040.12

  13. Solving Problems of the Chornobyl Shelter • June 1997, Ukraine and the G-7 nations approved the Shelter Implementation Plan • G-7 selected EBRD to manage project finances & hire SIP Project Management Unit (PMU) contractor • EBRD selected Chornobyl plant for PMU and required a Western PMU Consultant to help them succeed • Ukraine selected the team, composed of Bechtel, Electricité de France and Battelle • Negotiations continue today, with focus on nuclear liability issues • The final contract likely this week IG98040040.13

  14. Liability issues of doing work at Chornobyl - Background • Liability problems are not new: INSP encountered problems convincing United States industry to work in the former Soviet Union, because of concerns about liability • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory had to develop some international nuclear liability expertise • Our experience contracting at Chornobyl accents the importance of this issue for all firms doing business in the FSU • Clear liability understandings are essential for the Chornobyl SIP, if the world is to succeed in stabilizing this damaged plant IG98040040.14

  15. Liability issues of doing work at Chornobyl - The Risk • Assessments have been performed • The Shelter may collapse in an earthquake or high wind, or due to contractor errors while stabilizing it • Intermediate events identified as common stack failure and common separation wall failure • A nuclear explosion of Unit 3, based on propagation of a Shelter collapse, is incredible (< 10-6). It was determined that Unit 3 can be safely shut down after collapse of vent stack or the separation wall • The safety of workers in the facility and people in the near vicinity would be at hazard by a Shelter collapse IG98040040.15

  16. Liability issues of doing work at Chornobyl - Background • Elements necessary to limit third-party nuclear liability risk for a United States company doing business in a foreign country • Domestic Liability Legislation • Transboundary Victims Liability Treaty Relations • U.S. Treaty Relations IG98040040.16

  17. Liability issues of doing work at Chornobyl - Background • INSP helped DOE/DOS sponsor the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage, held in Vienna on September 29, 1997. • Secretary of Energy Peña signed the Convention for the United States on that date, subject to congressional ratification. Ukraine also signed. • The Senate Foreign Relations Committee sent the Convention on Nuclear Safety to the full Senate in early April, for its advice and consent to ratification. • The Convention on Nuclear Safety will be followed immediately by the Convention on Supplementary Compensation. • Approval of these conventions is key to opening business in Ukraine and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union. • Your (nuclear industry) support is critical to timely congressional approval. IG98040040.17

  18. Chornobyl Centerfor Nuclear Safety, Radioactive Waste and Radioecology • Socio-Economic Impacts in Slavutych • Education Exchange between Slavutych, Ukraine and Richland, Washington • Student optimism • Future for jobs • Public Council for Economic Development • Called for in Slavuytch Social Impact Plan • Democratic Institution • DOE may convene conference on skills needed for SIP projects IG98040040.18

  19. Chornobyl Centerfor Nuclear Safety, Radioactive Waste and Radioecology • Shelter Visit Feb. 25, 1998 • U.S. team led by Ray Hunter and John Wagoner • Current Status of SIP pledges • $300M from G-7 • $50M from Ukraine • $37M from Pledging Conference • Heat Plant • Size - 290 MWT, Project completion - October 1999 • Cost - $18M (US), $36M (Ukraine) • Critical to ensuring closure by year 2000 IG98040040.20

  20. Improve Nuclear Safety In FSU National/International Participants U.S. Department of State U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U.S. Agency for International Development Policy & Funding • Russia • Ukraine • Bulgaria • Czech Republic • Hungary • Kazakhstan • Lithuania • Slovakia • Armenia Coordination with G-7 and International Financial Institutions Participating Countries Program Implementation Lead Technical and Administrative Support Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Host Country Organizations and Nuclear Power Plants U.S. Industrial Organization U.S. National Laboratories IG98040040.21

  21. Participating Organizations National Laboratories U.S. Government Department of Energy Department of State Nuclear Regulatory Commission Agency for International Development Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory Sandia National Laboratory Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Private Industry Honeywell International Management Development Corp. Mariner Engineering, Inc. Matrix International Logistics, Inc. Orion/Atlantic Path Training Corp. Promatec Raytheon Engineers & Constructors, Inc. ABB-CE American Technologies, Inc. Babcock & Wilcox Bechtel Power Corp. Burns & Roe Control Data Duke Engineering & Services Ebasco General Physics Corp. Gilbert/Commonwealth Corp. Halliburton NUS Corp. S3 Technologies Science Application International Corp. Scientech Sierra Nuclear Corp. Stone and Webster, Inc. Sonalysts, Inc. Taurus Westinghouse Electric Co. IG98040040.22

  22. Problems Inadequate operating procedures and training Design deficiencies Lack of infrastructure to sustain safe operation Inadequate nuclear regulatory authority Improve Nuclear Safety in FSU65 Reactors at 20 Nuclear Power Plants in 8 Countries Percent of Electricity from Nuclear Power 80 83 60 45 44 42 41 37 40 20 13 20 0 Armenia Russia Czech Republic Ukraine Bulgaria Hungary Slovakia Lithuania IG98040040.23

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