Belarus’s experience of managing legacy sites

R. AstashkaDepartment for nuclear and radiation safety

Ministry for emergency situations Republic of Belar us

INTERNATIONAL WORKING FORUM ON REGULATORY SUPERVISION OF LEGACY SITES11-15 October 2010

Legacy site. What does it mean?

In Belarus

� Different sites contaminated in result of Chernobyl disaster

� Former military facilities

Relevant documents IAEA

Relevant documents IAEA

Legal Framework

The classical pyramid of normative documents

Decree of President of the Republic of BelarusLaw of the Republic of Belarus

Regulation of the Government

Ministerial regulations

Technical regulationsNorms and rules for ensuring nuclear and radiation safety

Guidelines

Law of the Republic of Belarus

� On Legal Status of the Territories Suffered from Radioactive Contamination Due to the Accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (adopted in 1991)

� On radiation safety of public (adopted in 1998, amended 2008)

� On the Use of Atomic Energy (adopted in 2008)

Norms and rules for ensuring nuclear and radiation safety

� Radiation safety norms (NRB – 2000). Ministry of Health, Republic of Belarus, 2000.

� Main sanitary rules for ensuring radiation safety (OSP-2002) Ministry of Health, Republic of Belarus, 2002.

Technical guidance

The Legal Basis of Radiation Safety Regulatory System for sanitary

authorities

�Law “On Hygiene and Epidemic Wellbeing of Public”– to make activities with radiation sources it’snecessary to have permission of sanitary authorities�There are the Basic Radiation Safety Standards(NRB-2000), the Basic Sanitary Requirements toassure radiation safety (OSP-2002), SanitaryRequirements for Radioactive Waste Management(SPORO-2005) for general radiation safetyrequirements

Sanitary Regulation on Decontamination Waste of Chernobyl Origin ManagementSPOOD-2004

� Special category of radioactive waste includes thedecontamination waste of Chernobyl origin. According to SPOOD-2004 the decontamination waste of Chernobyl origin are defined as substances formed as a result of work on elimination of theconsequences of the Chernobyl accident with a view to bring the state of environment in industrial and civil facilities in the contaminated areas to an acceptable radioecological level.

Regulatory Body

Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus №565 of November, 12 2007 “On Some Measures of theconstruction of NPP” establishes the regulatory body –Department of Nuclear and Radiation Safety (included inMinistry for emergencies)

The main tasks of Gosatomnadzor :� the state nuclear and radiation safety supervision;� the control for fulfillment of legislation on nuclear and radiation safety;

Gosatomnadzor

Chairman

Radiation Safety Department

InspectionNuclear Safety

Department

Division on RadiationSafety Supervision

Sector on RadiationSafety Regulation

Financial sector Division on development of regulatory documents

Licensing and examination sector

Division on NuclearSafety Assessment

Division on NPP Systems and Equipment safety

The problem is

Two regulatory authority Gosatomnadzor and Sanitary service have not clearly divided functions. Somewhere these functions are overlapped.

Is it problem?But it’s better than to omit.Effective interaction is the goal !!!

Licensing

Before 2011� Presidential Decree “On Licensing of

Certain Activities” (2003)� Regulation on licensing of activities

for industrial safety (as amended by Government 04.07.2006 № 833)

• Licences are issued by the licensingservice of Gospromnadzor[Department for Supervision ofIndustrial Safety of the Republic ofBelarus] based on the documentationsubmitted and an expert assessmentby the expert service ofGosatomnadzor.

From 2011� Presidential

Decree “On Licensing of Certain Activities” (2010)

� The order of licensing under construction

Licensing

Licence holders:� SEP Radon� SEP Poles’eLicence is not necessary� Republican team for special functions under

Ministry for emergencies

LicensingPotential problem

� Both Gosatomnadzor and Republican team for special function are under Ministry for emergencies

Chernobyl affected areas

Regulation of activities on areas contaminated in result of Chernobyl disaster

� Law of The Republic of Belarus “On Legal Status of the Territories Suffered from Radioactive Contamination Due to the Accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant” (adopted in 1991)

� The State programme on mitigation Chernobyl NPP disaster consequences (now for the period 2011-2015)

The State programme on mitigation Chernobyl NPP disaster consequences

Chapters1. Decontamination of institution for children,

hospitals2. Decontamination of territories of settlements3. Decontamination industrial objects

(ventilation systems)4. Burial of buildings in the exclusion zone5. Operation of disposal sites

The State programme on mitigation Chernobyl NPP disaster consequences for the period 2011 -2015

� Burial of buildings - 5600 on the evacuated territories- 2400 in rehabilited villages� Completion of decontamination of ventilation

systems in 2011

Organization of works

Institutions are involved:� Department for mitigation Chernobyl NPP disaster

consequences � SEP Radon� SEP Poles’e� Local authorities� Design institutes � Research institute “Sosny” as TSO� Sanitary-epidemiological service as regulator

Organization of works Stages

� radiation survey of contaminated sites in general –definition of objects of “interest”

� preliminary radiation survey – to confirm non compliance with criteria

� design stage including detail radiation investigation � project implementation, sorting of waste� acceptance of works by special commission� disposal of waste

Decontamination waste of Chernobyl origin (Disposal facilities for decontamination waste)

The waste originated from works ondecontamination of the inhabited localities, facilitiesand installations in the area of radioactivecontamination of Chernobyl NPP are stored in thedisposal facilities for decontamination waste (DFDWs).

Decontamination waste of Chernobyl origin – cont.

� Taking into account the formation history, control requirements and operation regulations, these facilities are subdivided into three categories:

� DFDWs-I are near-surface facilities with special engineering barriers intended for waste with the activity more than 96 кBq/kg of Cs-137. Currently there is only one disposal facility of such kind–“Khatki”. It is situated in the South of Chernobyl zone several kilometres away from the border with Ukraine. It constitutes 9 trenches, equipped with concrete cells (3x3x3 m), where 3088 tons of radioactive meat with the total activity of 74,5*1010Bq (20,1488 Ci) were disposed in 1991.

Decontamination waste of Chernobyl origin – cont.

DFDWs-2 are near-surface disposals with claybottoms, which were constructed in 1991-1992 for waste,originated from decontamination of contaminated areas.The waste (predominately soil, construction wastes) areof low or very low level of activity (less than 96 kBq/kgaccording to Cs-137). There are 8 disposal facilitiesbelonging to DFDW: 4 - in Mogilev Region, 3 - in GomelRegion, 1 - in Brest Region.

Decontamination waste of Chernobyl origin – cont.

DFDWs-3 are facilities formed as temporary units whilemass decontamination of inhabited localities carriedout by civil defence forces in Gomel Region (1986-1989). The total number of DFDW-3 is 82. Almost allof them were created in extreme conditions andequipped spontaneously as a rule without projecting,in former pits, ravines, lowlands, sometimes in thespecially dug trenches or on flat sites. Only three ofthem have base protection in the form of clay layeror plastic foil, 11 of them have test bore holes forcontrol over contamination of ground water.

Disposal areas for decontamination waste of Chernobyl origin - cont

Disposal areas for decontamination waste of Chernobyl origin - cont

Facilities at sites of former dislocationof military units

The known radioactive waste storage facilities at sites of former dislocation of Soviet Union military units are located in Gomel region (disposal facility “Gomel-30”) and in Minsk region (disposal facility “Kolosovo”).

There is not any documentation on the construction and the contents of these facilities. According to the results of preliminary examination, they represent concrete wells, loaded with sealed control, diagnostic or calibration radioactive sources (Cs-137, Sr-90, Co-60).

DF “Gomel-30”

Organization of works

Parties are involved:� Ministry for emergencies� Gosatomnadzor� Republican team for special functions� Research institute “Sosny” as TSO� Local authorities� Sanitary-epidemiological service

Council of Ministers

Ministry for Emergencies

Ministry of health

Governmentalcommission for

emergencies situations

Republican team for special functions

Gosatomnadzor

Department for mitigation

chernobyl consequencies

Sanitary-epidemiological

service

Nationalacademy

of sciences

Research institute“Sosny”

Disposal facility “Kolosovo”

Within the framework of the technical project BYE/3/002“Minimization of the Radioecological Threat from the Disposalof Radioactive Waste at Former Soviet Union Military Sites”sources from military radioactive waste repository “Kolosovo”have been extracted and relocated to Ekores facility.

General view of DF “Kolosovo”

Upper part of DF “Kolosovo”

Upper part of DF “Gomel-30”

Visit on site Gomel-30 (April 2010 )

Planned activity

• Development of methodology• Provision of the long-term safety of the facilities at sites of former dislocation of the Russian Federation military units; • Perfection of the legislative basis

Enforcement

Code of the Republic of Belarus on administrative offences

� 15.5. Violation of the order of disposal of radioactive waste

� 16.3. Violation of the requirements of theregime of radiation safety in the areasaffected by radioactive contamination

� 16.6. Violation of rules and norms of radiationsafety

Articles of the Criminal code of the Republic of Belarus regulating responsibility for breaches in th e field of radiation safety

� 268 Hiding or deliberate distortion of the information concerning with environmental contamination

� 278 Breach of safety rules while managing ecologically dangerous substances and waste

� 301 Breach of industrial and technical discipline rules or safety rules at the facilities concerned with the use of nuclear energy

� 322 Illicit acquisition, storage, sale or destruction of radioactive material

� 323 Theft of radioactive materials� 324 Threat of the dangerous use of radioactive materials� 325 Breach of rules of managing radioactive material� 326 Breach of rules of radiation control

Enforcement

� It seems the legal base for enforcement exists

� There is no real practice of enforcement of offence

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION