Regulatory Supervision of the Management of Nuclear Legacy Sites

Malgorzata K. Sneve Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority

AtomECO, 31 October 1 November 2011

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Types of Nuclear Legacy

      Uranium mining and milling facilities Nuclear technology development centres Nuclear peaceful and weapons testing sites Nuclear weapons development centres Sites affected by major accidents Inadequate storage and disposal sites and facilities

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Uranium Mining Remediation and Rehabilitation Works in Australia

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Global Uranium Mining and Milling Waste

(UNSCEAR-2000)
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Places of Global Nuclear Tests

(UNSCEAR-2000)
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Other Nuclear Legacy Facilities

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Recovery of Buried Sources in Belarus

Recovery of used radioactive sources Recovered sources

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Confidence in Continuing Use of Radioactive and Nuclear Materials

 Safe and effective management of all these different legacies is important in itself. However, confidence in continuing use of nuclear power and other technologies is dependent upon clear progress and success in legacy management. It is also important to be clear about the conditions in which those legacies arose, and how many factors are different today. Norway takes an active interest in this area, which I would like to describe to you now.

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Nuclear Sites and Accidents, an Arctic View

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Focus within Norwegian Plan of Action

Sites of Temporary Storage for Spent Nuclear Fuel and Radioactive Waste at Andreeva Bay and Gremikha

Decomissioning Radio-isotope Thermal Generators ~ 1000 TBq Sr-90 each

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Bi-lateral Regulatory Cooperation within the Plan of Action

Within the Plan of Action, NRPA has developed a regulatory cooperation program with her sister authorities in the Russian Federation. Overall objective: to generate confidence that nuclear legacy management is under-pinned by a robust and independent regulatory process. Strategy: to work with relevant Russian authorities to support them in their regulatory supervision over specific problems. Requires a responsible approach to environmental and human health protection, avoiding short term measures which create new legacies

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Russian Authorities in the Programme

 Federal Medical-Biological Agency (FMBA) Radiation safety (Civilian)

 Federal Environmental, Industrial and Nuclear Supervision Service of Russia (Rostechnadzor) Nuclear safety (Civilian)  Directorate of State Supervision over Nuclear and Radiation Safety of the Ministry of Defense (DSS NRS) Nuclear and radiation safety (Military) Supported by their technical support organizations
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Regulatory functions for legacy sites are not found in just one authority!
NRPA works with the most relevant authorities to resolve cross-cutting issues in
       Environmental protection Radiation protection of workers and public Nuclear safety Nuclear security Contaminated land management Radioactive management: treatment, storage, transport and disposal Emergency preparedness and response

in both civilian and military sectors. This supports a complete and integrated regulatory basis for legacy management
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Example: Sites for Temporary Storage of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste: Andreeva Bay and Gremikha
      Unsatisfactory technical condition of the facilities for storage of SNF and RW from submarines Radioactive contamination dispersion into marine environment Continuing threat of further releases Lack of regulatory requirements and guidance to address existing abnormal radiation conditions Lack of relevant standards for the remediation of contaminated areas and management of radioactive waste Public concern that environmental safety may be jeopardized  Kola Peninsula and European part of Russia  also in other countries of northern Europe.

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Mechanisms in Use for Improving Regulatory Supervision

 Threat assessments
 Identify key regulatory weaknesses in relation to the most hazardous legacies Operator knows what he has to do and regulator has effective and efficient mechanisms Ecology of the site Contamination distribution and characteristics

New and improved regulatory requirements and guidance



Site characterisation
 

  

Prospective radiological and environmental impact assessments Risk management assessments - to support choices among options and
optimisation

Public confidence - providing stakeholders with relevant information and

opportunities to provide inputs

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Observations on Progress to Date

 Substantial progress in the Russian Federation to manage the nuclear legacy and remediate legacy sites within a modern and effective regulatory system Achieved by more than simplistic application of international recommendations and some training courses The main enhancements comes through support to projects which have had direct application and practice at real sites To be successful, this has required the building of trust and close cooperation among many organizations:  regulatory authorities,  operators and technical support organizations,  but also local authorities and other stakeholders.

  

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Extending Support to Central Asian Countries

Norwegian government has recognized the value of regulatory cooperation with Russia for more than 15 years Similar cooperation has now been implemented through NRPA with regulatory authorities in central Asia Here the main focus in on uranium mining and ore processing legacies We hope that expertise developed with Russian colleagues can be useful in central Asia and also to the international forum IAEA RSLS program

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Sharing experience internationally

Workshops, review meetings and site visits: USA: DOE, EPA, NRC, Hanford and Idaho UK: EA, HPA, NII, SEPA, Dounreay, Windscale, Sellafield, Rosyth, Devonport France: IRSN, Marcoule

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IAEAs International Working Forum on Regulatory Supervision of Legacy Sites

Many countries have sites which remain as legacies to be managed after the initial phases of nuclear technology development and uranium and other mining and extraction industries Restoration of these legacy sites includes decommissioning, remediation and waste storage/disposal facilities. It includes toxic and radioactive residues, as well as other safety hazards. It involves management of existing radiation hazards related to remediation, treatment, transport and storage of radioactive waste including potential accidents in remediation work, and then final disposal. Legacy sites were created when regulatory supervision of operations was weak or absent. Nowadays, strong and independent regulatory supervision is seen as a critical to radiation and nuclear safety.

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RSLS Objectives
To address specific situations at real sites and hence lend support to the regulatory authorities at those sites To assist in deriving practical interpretation of generic radiation protection guidance on nuclear legacy sites To identify good practices in stakeholder engagement with regulatory supervision and enhancement of safety culture as it applies to legacy sites Better understanding and application of different types of risks in the regulatory supervision process

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RSLS Working Groups

WG1: Enhancing Regulatory Infrastructure  National strategies and plans  Regulatory basis and regulatory infrastructure  Lessons learned WG2: Safety Assessment Methods and Environmental Impact Assessment. Guidance on  Methodological criteria for operators  Methodological criteria for regulators  Guidance on review methodology WG2: Professional Development for Regulators  Project management  Technical competencies  Inspection
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The challenge: to go from this

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To this (both are mine and mill tailings areas)

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Thank you for your attention! Malgorzata K. Sneve Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority E-mail: malgorzata.sneve@nrpa.no www.nrpa.no

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