[RADIATION SAFETY DURING REMEDIATION OF THE "SEVRAO" FACILITIES].

Within a framework of national program on elimination of nuclear legacy, State Corporation "Rosatom" is working on rehabilitation at the temporary waste storage facility at Andreeva Bay (Northwest Center for radioactive waste "SEVRAO"--the branch of "RosRAO"), located in the North-West of Russia. In the article there is presented an analysis of the current state of supervision for radiation safety of personnel and population in the context of readiness of the regulator to the implementation of an effective oversight of radiation safety in the process of radiation-hazardous work. Presented in the article results of radiation-hygienic monitoring are an informative indicator of the effectiveness of realized rehabilitation measures and characterize the radiation environment in the surveillance zone as a normal, without the tendency to its deterioration.

Radiological protection regulation during spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste management in the western branch of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise 'SevRAO'.

The site of temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, situated at Andreeva Bay in Northwest Russia, was developed in the 1960s, and it has carried out receipt and storage of fresh and spent nuclear fuel, and solid and liquid radioactive waste generated during the operation of nuclear submarines and nuclear-powered icebreakers. The site is now operated as the western branch of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise, SevRAO. In the course of operation over several decades, the containment barriers in the Spent Nuclear Fuel and Radioactive Waste storage facilities partially lost their containment effectiveness, so workshop facilities and parts of the site became contaminated with radioactive substances. This paper describes work being undertaken to provide an updated regulatory basis for the protection of workers during especially hazardous remediation activities, necessary because of the unusual radiation conditions at the site. It describes the results of recent survey work carried out by the Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Centre, within a programme of regulatory cooperation between the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority and the Federal Medical-Biological Agency of Russia. The survey work and subsequent analyses have contributed to the development of special regulations setting out radiological protection requirements for operations planned at the site. Within these requirements, and taking account of a variety of other factors, a continuing need arises for the implementation of optimisation of remediation at Andreeva Bay.

Regulatory supervision of sites for spent fuel and radioactive waste storage in the Russian northwest.

In the 1960s two technical bases for the Northern Fleet were created in the Russian northwest at Andreeva Bay in the Kola Peninsula and Gremikha village on the coast of the Barents Sea. They maintained nuclear submarines, receiving and storing radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. No further waste was received after 1985, and the technical bases have since been re-categorised as temporary storage sites. The handling of these materials to put them into a safe condition is especially hazardous because of their degraded state. This paper describes regulatory activities which have been carried out to support the supervision of radiological protection during recovery of waste and spent fuel, and to support regulatory decisions on overall site remediation. The work described includes: an assessment of the radiation situation on-site; the development of necessary additional regulatory rules and standards for radiation protection assurance for workers and the public during remediation; and the completion of an initial threat assessment to identify regulatory priorities. Detailed consideration of measures for the control of radiation exposure of workers and radiation exposure of the public during and after operations and emergency preparedness and response are complete and provided in sister papers. The continuing requirements for regulatory activities relevant to the development and implementation of on-going and future remediation activities are also outlined. The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority supports the work, as part of the Norwegian Government's plan of action to promote improvements in radiation protection and nuclear safety in northwest Russia.

[Radiation safety in work with chemicals containing admixtures of natural radionuclides]. / Radiatsionnaia bezopasnost' pri rabote s veshchestvami, soderzhashchimi primesi estestvennykh radionuklidov.

The authors analyze results obtained in their own research of radiation situation in several enterprises of Nuclear Energy Department. Those enterprises treat chemicals containing admixtures of natural radionuclides in production of substances previously considered safe--tantalum, zirconium, strontium carbonate. The article necessitates regulation of radiation factor in working environment and control over products and waste materials. The authors base methods providing radiation safety during work with substances containing higher levels of natural radionuclides admixtures.

[The irradiation of the personnel of industrial and power-generating atomic reactors]. / Obluchenie personala promyshlennykh i énergeticheskikh atomnykh reaktorov.

The authors represent the time course of irradiation of the personnel of uran-graphite reactors in the period of starting up the first one in 1947 up to 1988 and atomic power stations of various types over the period of 1978-1987. Irradiation of the personnel of industrial reactors was continually on the decrease. While in 1949 over 99% of the personnel were exposed to a dose exceeding the then maximum permissible dose of 15 cSv, in 1957 the average annual dose of external radiation was decreased to 5 cSv. Beginning from 1974 cases of irradiation of the personnel over the existing MPD in normal operation of reactors were practically ruled out. The improvement of working conditions at nuclear power stations provided rather low exposure doses for the personnel (an average of 0.2-0.8 cSv annually).