The first batch of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) was shipped off from the storage facility in Andreeva Bay (Murmansk Region) for further reprocessing on June 27. The shipment was carried out by the lighter ship Rossita.
The first SNF batch off-shipment is a marking event and example of the successful international cooperation in solving complex problem of nuclear legacy in North-West of Russia, enhancement of nuclear and radiation safety, and improvement of the environmental situation.
Director General of ROSATOM Alexei Likhachev said: "Nuclear and radiation safety issues have no borders. Our foreign partners share this position. RosRAO and Rosatomflot start the key work stage in Andreeva Bay. The Lighter Rossita will ship off first transportation packages with spent nuclear fuel for its further reprocessing to PA Mayak".
The multifunctional lighter ship Rossita is designed for transportation of spent nuclear fuel and materials of disposed nuclear submarines from former on-shore bases of Russian Navy in North-West of Russia. The ship was built in Fincantieri’s Mujano Shipyard in La Spezia (Italy). The ship building was financed by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Italian Republic in frames of the Agreement between the Government of the Italian Republic and the Government of the Russian Federation concerning the cooperation in disposal of the Russian nuclear submarines phased out from the Navy and safety of the management of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. The creation of SNF and RAW management facilities as well as engineering systems under the federal target program on large-scale disposal of military equipment and machinery for 2011-2015 and until 2020 has been carried out in the cooperation with the governments of the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Italy as well as the European Commission and Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership Support Fund (where contributors are the European Union, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden and the United Kingdom; the Fund is managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development). Total funds allocated for construction of infrastructure and improvement of the environmental situation in Andreeva Bay was RUB 8 Billion over the period from 1999. Over this period 20 old facilities have been dismantled, 17 new facilities of the total area of 18,889 square meters have been built, as much as 12,000 cubic meters of RAW have been rendered safe as well as 11 facilities for RAW biological shielding, transportation and handling have been designed and manufactured. To achieve this result, 121 international contracts have been implemented and about 45 research and development programs to provide for safe conditions have been carried out. The created management infrastructure will reduce the time of RAW off-shipment more than three times.
