Russia will soon start storing used fuel from its RBMK-1000 and VVER-1000 reactors in a new centralized 'dry' interim storage facility (ISF) at Zheleznogorsk. The first phase of the facility was recently completed and the first RBMK fuel will be delivered in early 2012.
The first phase of a centralized storage facility has been completed at the Mining and Chemical Combine (MCC) at Zheleznogorsk near Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. The initial stage of the facility - which was commissioned in December 2011 - will be used for storing 8129 tonnes of RBMK fuel from the three power plants in the country using that kind of reactor: Leningrad, Kursk and Smolensk. The used fuel from these plants is currently stored in on-site water-filled pools, but these are reaching full-capacity.
The first used fuel is expected to be delivered to the Zheleznogorsk ISF before the end of March 2012. It is estimated that the first phase of the facility will be full within eight to ten years.