Today, on 9 November at 12:00 the completion of Stage 2 of the environmental rehabilitation of a radioactive waste storage facility is celebrated in Sillamäe. On this occasion, the Minister of the Environment Mr Villu Reiljan is there to see the site of the waste storage facility covered with an intermediate layer and shaped like a hill. The Sillamäe Radioactive Waste Storage Facility is located in Ida-Virumaa in the eastern part of the Sillamäe town on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. The storage facility covers a territory of approximately 40 hectares and contains close to 12 million tonnes of uranium production waste and oil shale ash stored there since the Soviet Union’s secret uranium factory was launched in 1948. In order to avoid the transfer of pollution from the factory to the sea, the storage facility is now being closed. Closing of the storage facility is a long process lasting for six years (2001-2007) and carried out in three stages. In 2001 to 2003 during Stage 1 the seaward dam of the storage facility was supported with shore reinforcement and a belt of reinforced concrete piles. A diaphragm wall was built to re-route water leaking in the waste storage and a drainage was made for the access route. As a result of Stage 2 the waste storage facility was covered with an intermediate layer and it was shaped into a slightly sloping hill. The intermediate layer and final contour was made of various types of soil and oil shale ash. Close to 2 million cubic meters of soil and ash was relocated to form an intermediate layer for an area of 52 hectares. The maximum thickness of the layer is 13 m. The current height of the waste storage facility is 36 m above sea level. The work of Stage 3 has already begun. In the course of the final stage the waste storage facility will get a watertight top cover consisting of five types of soil: clayey moraine as an insulating layer, crushed limestone of two types of coarseness as a drainage layer, loam as a cold protection layer and soil containing humus as a layer promoting plant growth. The volume of the top cover will be approximately 1.2 million cubic meters and it will be ready in 2007. This year, as a part of Stage 3, geotechnical surveys of clayey moraine used in the insulating layer have already been performed in the Narva quarry and the materials, equipment and installation technology have been tested on a so-called test square. The work is financed from the Nordic aid through the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) and co-financing is provided by the Republic of Estonia through the Environmental Investment Centre and the National Investment Programme. The total cost of the six-year process is EEK 312 million. The work is performed by AS ASPI by way of public procurement. The design project for the intermediate layer and top cover was prepared by the German company Wismunt GmbH who is also responsible for construction supervision. Closing of the Sillamäe radioactive waste storage facility is arranged by AS Ökosil. Further information: Monika Kopti |
