Background
Following a request from the Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian authorities, the European Commission established the Chernobyl Regional Programme as a part of the TACIS 1993 Nuclear Safety Programme. The programme was intended to assist those countries in dealing with the consequences of the Chernobyl accident.
The programme began with a rapid exercise to assess the needs of the three countries, identify actions already undertaken and define the key priorities for funding by the EC and other donors.
It was initially anticipated that first efforts would concentrate on actions to limit the consequences of soil contamination, but, subject to initial assessment, other actions dealing with the social and economic problems resulting from the Chernobyl accident could also be included. One of these actions was to provide for an improvement in the then inadequate supply of iodine to the population in the affected countries.
The intention of this measure was to build up the population’s resistance to any threats to health as a consequence of the Chernobyl accident. Promotion of the use of iodized table salt was directed at reducing the frequency of thyroid gland diseases due to iodine deficiency in food ingredients.
The overall objective was to improve the supply and consumption of iodised table salt in the populations of the affected regions in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. This required actions in two main directions:
1. a campaign aimed at overcoming the lack of information and education of the public and large consumers regarding the benefits of iodised table salt in order to encourage increased usage of the product.
2. Improvements to production, packaging, storage and distribution of iodised table salt throughout the regions concerned.
The responsibility for the first of the above actions was taken by the appropriate ministries of the affected countries, with the help of other donors (for example, UNICEF assisted by financing a series of daily television advertisements promoting the consumption of iodised salt).
The second action was the subject of the TACIS project. To this end a pilot project was programmed to improve the production capabilities, the product quality and the packaging of the table salt produced at the existing production location Mozyr Salt Plant.
The Mozyr Salt Plant is situated some 300 km south of Minsk, between Minsk and Kiev.
A conceptual design study was undertaken by Fichtner see contract 23247). The conclusions were that the Mozyr plant had sufficient production capacity to meet the supply requirements but that improvements were required to achieve and maintain a sufficient and uniform high product quality. Measures were required to improve the accuracy of dosing and mixing of the iodine compounds. Additionally, the existing packaging was inadequate. The poor quality of the packaging was the main reason for product damage during transportation and storage and this allowed loss of iodine concentration. Consequently, new plant and equipment were required and Technical Specifications were prepared for the procurement of the following equipment:

• Lot 1: Supply of an iodisation system for the production of iodised table salt
• Lot 2: Supply of a continuously working packaging line for packing of the produced iodised table salt.

The equipment was purchased through two separate supply contracts (see the separate contract summaries for each of these equipment supply contracts).
Fichtner was contracted by the European Commission (Contract 23916) to perform the tendering of the above supply contracts and (Contract 26768) to follow-up the supply contracts.
The present contract was for the manufacture and supply of the Lot 2 equipment (Supply of a continuously working packaging line for packing of the produced iodised table salt).
Objective
The scope of supply was the design, manufacture, delivery, installation and commissioning of a salt packaging system for the packing of iodised table salt into cardboard folding boxes of 500g or 1000 g capacity. The system had to be installed at the Mozyr Salt Plant. The system had to be capable of:

• Storing the pre-glued cartons
• Erecting the cartons and closing the bottom flaps
• Filling the cartons
• Folding and closing the top flaps
• Pre-arranging the packages for loading into cases

The system had to meet the following requirements:

• Product throughput of 200 cartons/min (equivalent to 6 t/h for 500 g cartons and 12 t/h for 1000 g cartons) – the system was required to have 30% spare capacity.
• Suitable for non-stop working in a 3 shift operation for a minimum of 6000 hours per year. One 4 week shutdown per year for maintenance

The following components were included:

• Vibration conveyor
• Charging hopper
• Magazine for folding boxes (pre-glued cartons)
• System for erecting cartons
• System for folding and closing the bottom flaps
• System for filling the cartons with dosing system
• Checking system for loaded cartons
• System for top flap folding and closing
• Compression section
• System for pre-arranging of primary packages
• Equipment for the outer case packaging section
• Valves/instrumentation and control installations
• Pipework
• Complete electrical installation including cabling and cable ducts
• All necessary steel construction, including supporting steelwork, stairways, platforms, safety barriers and guards (to be fabricated and erected by the End User according to the supplier’s detailed design)
• Spare parts for two years of operation

The supplier was responsible for the complete installation of the supplied system as well as the commissioning. During the time on site, the supplier was also responsible for training the End user operation and maintenance personnel.
Results
The supply contract was signed in March 2001.
The equipment was delivered in October 2002. Provisional acceptance took place July 2003 and final acceptance July 2004.