R4.02/03 - Upgrading of Sergiev Posad Dept. of Moscow NPO RADON and assessment of the radiological impact in the area nearby

The network of individual RADON waste disposal centres was established in the former USSR in 1961 to provide for disposal of “other” radioactive waste (“radwaste”) produced by industrial, medical, scientific and other institutional producers, other than nuclear power plants and nuclear-propelled ships and submarines. The Moscow Scientific and Industrial Corporation “RADON” (MosNPO RADON) was intended to serve disposal (reception, transportation, sorting treatment and long-term storage) of the “other” radwaste in the city of Moscow and 9 other regions in the central European part of Russia. One of two departments of the MosNPO RADON is the Sergiev Posad Department (SPD) located 72 k from Moscow, close to Sergiev Posad town.

Although the SPD was in about the same condition as the other RADON centres, it was the largest and most complex one and was supposed to receive additional radwaste from the Kurchatov Institute and from the decommissioning of research reactors in the Moscow area in a near future. Therefore, the SPD was selected as a pilot facility for the R4.02/03 project.

This project was a follow-up one of two previous TACIS projects focused on radwaste treatment in the Moscow region, namely: R4.04/93 “Improvement of non Nuclear Power Plant Radioactive Waste Management in the Moscow Region”, and R4.04/94 “Improvement of Sergiev Posad Storage and Conditioning Facility”. Within the R4.04/94 project, Technical Specifications for container construction and for a system of entry control of incoming radwaste were prepared. The current project was to continue with this development and accumulate further experience for a sustainable impact of the projects.

The specific objectives of the R4.02/03 project were to:

1. Support improvement of efficiency and safety level of the SPD radwaste storage facility
2. Assist in procurement of SPD upgrading equipment
3. Support in preparation of the Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR) and the Preliminary Environmental Impact Analysis (PEIAR) needed for obtaining an operating licence of a new long-term storage facility under construction on the SPD site.
4. Assess the radio-ecological impact of the facility operation in an area of 50km radius around SPD

The objectives 1 and 2 were to be achieved through implementation of the technical Task 2 including:

• analysis of the radwaste flow and input/output balance, identification of weak points and recommendations on solving the problems (Sub-tasks 2.1 and 2.2)
• preparation of a complete Quality Assurance/Quality Control programme for SPD (Sub-task 2.3)
• upgrade of waste management procedures for all stages of radwaste management (Sub-task 2.4)
• preparation of a conceptual design and technical specifications for supply and installation of
• a new equipment for the existing radwaste sorting and pre-treatment system, including a characterisation system for radwaste drums
• replacement components of the hydraulic system of the existing supercompactor (Sub-task 2.5)

The objectives 3 and 4 were formalized in the technical tasks 3 and 4 respectively.
Within the Task 3, the PSAR on a new long-term storage facility at SPD site was supposed to be prepared including: full description of the site, facility design, facility operation, safety analyses results, radiation protection measures, emergency preparedness, and decommissioning plans. The PEIAR was supposed to include potential environmental impact of the long-term storage facility, forecast of environment changes due to the facility operation and procedures to limit the environmental impact.
Within the Task 4, a biosphere model of an area of 50km radius around SPD was supposed to be developed for calculation of a dose to a representative individual. As input data of the model, biosphere receptors of radionuclides (air, soil, surface and ground water) and possible pathways of public contaminations were to be measured and a radiological map of the area was to be developed.

Following the tender procedure, the 76787 contract was awarded to a Consortium composed of Belgatom s.a. (lead) and Institut Nationale des Radioéléments (IRE), Belgium; the contract value was €675,240. The contract implementation period was 36 months.

The contract was signed on 20/10/2005. The Kick-off Meeting was held in Moscow on 12-14/12/2005. A draft Inception Report (IR) was reviewed and agreed at the first progress meeting in Moscow on 10-11/04/06. However, it was not approved before 16/04/2007 due to change of the Consultant's Team Leader and protracted discussions on the scope of Task 3. The scope of Task 3 was finally re-formulated and some activities of Task 3 related to the radio-ecological impact assessment (PEIAR parts) were relocated to the Task 4 by the Contract Addendum 2.

As agreed during the ToR endorsement, the Task 4 (the radio-ecological impact assessment) was subcontracted to a Consortium of three Russian research institutes: Roshydromet/RPA Typhoon, the Institute of Ecology and Evolution Problems (IEEP) and Kurchatov Institute. The subcontract was signed on 07/04/2006; the value of the subcontract was €180,000.

As proposed during the first progress meeting, also works on identification of weak points of the existing radwaste management system within the Task 2 were locally subcontracted, namely to a Russian corporation called International Business Relation (IBR). The subcontract with IBR was signed in April 2006 too; the subcontract value was €25,000.
The task report on subtasks 2.1 and 2.2 was issued in 03/2007 including analysis of the flow of radioactive waste and the processing step recommendations to improve SPD radwaste management taking into account future waste intake. The QAP for SPD was prepared (Subtask 2.3) and waste management procedures were upgraded (Subtask 2.4) using input documents provided by RADON.
On Subtask 2.5, the Consultant prepared technical specifications (TS) for replacement of the hydraulic system of the existing supercompactor and procurement of a characterisation system for radwaste sorting. The TS were used for the related supply contracts (see Project Summaries on contracts 99677, 141378 and 145724).

The draft PSAR developed under the Task 3 was reviewed by EU and Russian regulatory Technical Support Organizations within the licensing support project RF/TS/39 in 08/2006. The comments were incorporated in the final version of PSAR by RADON under Consultant’s supervision. For the PEIAR, RADON prepared an environmental impact assessment based on MASCOT software developed within the R4.04/94 TACIS project; the assessment was reviewed by the Consultant in July 2007.
Within the Task 4, the subcontracted local consortium developed Dedicated Computer Modules for calculation of equivalent and effective doses, performed field radio-ecological studies in summer 2006, collected health-demographic data for the SPD area and evaluated radiation doses to the local population. The Kurchatov Institute developed a radiation risk assessment methodology and a computerized assessment tool – the BARD_RADON software module.

The contract was extended by 2 months (expiry date 21/12/2008) and finally closed on 25/03/2010.