B3.01/04 - Regulatory Assistance to Belarus in the field on Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection including Radiological Emergency Preparedness (ref AP 7.5.1.1)

This project was the follow-up of projects BE/RA/01 and BE/RA/02. It aimed to review the system of notification, registration, licensing and inspection in the field of radiation protection and to provide assistance in the field of legislation and regulations, radioactive waste management, measurement of transuranic elements in soil, radioactive and nuclear material transport. Another purpose was to contribute to further development of emergency preparedness.

The technical tasks of the project were:

Task 1: This task consisted of assistance to draft a law on radioactive waste management, to prepare secondary regulations and guidelines in the field of radiation protection and to draft legislation on the peaceful use of atomic energy. Information was exchanged during three workshops about legislation and radiation protection and nuclear safety issues in Belarus, Finland, Germany and Sweden and the Belarusian experts visited several sites in the EU. The following documents were drafted:

• amendment to the “law on radiation safety of the Public”
• document justifying the necessity to adopt the above mentioned amendment
• draft amendments and supplements to the Law “Radiation Safety of the Population”
• document “Belarusian Ordinance on state technical supervision in the field of industrial, nuclear and radiation safety, safety of hazardous goods transportation, protection and efficient use of earth resources”

Task 2: This task concerned the review of the system of notification, registration, licensing and inspection in the field of radiation protection including organisational and administrative aspects. This task was implemented through three workshops and resulted mainly in the following:

• Decisions were taken to restructure the Promatomnadzor (Regulator) Department for Supervision of Industrial and Nuclear Safety and to establish an independent supervising state body on nuclear and radiation safety directly under MES.
• It was recommended to consider the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards for future requirements in medical radiology
• It was recommended to avoid any reference to patients doses limitation and to introduce instead the Diagnostic Reference Levels

Task 3: This task aimed to provide assistance in the field of radioactive waste (RAW) management, including education and training. The situation in Belarus related to the Joint Convention on the Safety of radioactive waste management was discussed and an overview was given about the legislation and practices concerning waste management in Belgium, Germany and Sweden. Information was also given about EU experience concerning licensing procedures for construction of nuclear facilities as well as retrieval, characterization of RAW and waste acceptance criteria (WAC).
The public and stakeholder involvement in RAW facility licensing procedures was also addressed and the Belarusian experts visited the Studsvik waste facilities, in Sweden.

Task 4: This task consisted mainly of training in the field of emergency preparedness. Two train-the-trainers workshops were held as well as a meeting related to education of the public and a special educational course was given to rescuers about radiological emergency response.

Task 5: This task concerned the implementation of methods for measurements of transuranic elements in soil. Intercomparison was performed between EU laboratories and Belarusian laboratory (Republican Centre of Radiation Control and Monitoring of the Environment, RCRCM) concerning measurement of gamma emitting nuclides and Plutonium isotopes. The intercomparison was carried out with the RCRCM’s old equipment as the new one was not delivered in the expected time frame. Belarus experts were also trained on radiochemistry, alpha spectrometry and quality assurance.

Task 6: This task aimed to provide assistance in the field of nuclear material transport, with the emphasis to illicit trafficking. Three workshops were held and addressed the international and EU legislative framework and regulations about RAW transport as well as practices and procedures used by EU regulators to enforce those regulations. The Belarus experts also participated in on-site visits and in one joint inspection in an airport.

Task 7: This task consisted of drafting the Technical Specifications of equipment to be purchased in order to upgrade the RCRCM equipment. After several revisions of the Technical Specifications, the following three lots were published for tendering: radiation measurement techniques and devices including calibration sources, personal protection equipment and laboratory equipment, special items and consumables.

Task 8: This task consisted of the participation of experts from the Ministry for Emergency Situations (MES) in International conferences, namely EUROSAFE conferences in 2006 and 2007 and Annual Meetings on Nuclear Technology in 2007 and 2008.

Task 9: This last task aimed to support MES in the definition of the yearly Action Programme: the Technical Project Description Sheet (TPDS) of the following project BE/RA/04 was drafted and a first version of the Technical Specifications of equipment to be purchased under this project was discussed.