A team of IAEA experts who reviewed the latest clean-up activities performed under the Vinča Institute Nuclear Decommissioning (VIND) programme at Serbia’s Vinča site confirmed that the on-site works are progressing well. The mission, which involved technical visits to the site and meetings with key stakeholders, noted that the continuing good cooperation between the Public Company Nuclear Facilities of Serbia (PC NFS, the Serbian operator of nuclear facilities), and the national regulator Serbian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Agency (SRPNA), each within their own competences, is key to the smooth implementation of clean-up activities at Vinča.
“We commend the open dialogue and trust between the operator and the regulator”, said Ian Gordon, Head of the Waste Technology Section at the IAEA, at the end of two-day mission on 20 April 2016. “This support is instrumental for the operator and contractor to conduct site operations safely and move effectively towards ensuring the safe and secure storage of solid radioactive waste on the site.”
The focus of current radioactive waste activities includes retrieval, characterization and packing of solid waste stored in old hangars and capacity building for PC NFS workforce. The operator staff will also be fully trained to perform search and secure activities related to disused sealed radioactive sources across the country and potentially in the rest of the Western Balkans.
