CEG Workshop, St. Petersburg, Russia
Workshop on Management of Spent Nuclear Fuel and Radioactive Waste: Regulatory and Licensing Issues , 27-28 May 2009, St.Petersburg, Russia
The IAEA Contact Experts Group (CEG) Workshop on Management of Spent Nuclear Fuel and Radioactive Waste: Regulatory and Licensing Issues will be held in St. Petersburg, Russia in May 2009. The Workshop is being hosted and organized by the Rosatom Corporation and its Federal Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Safety, together with the IAEA Contact Experts Group (CEG) and in collaboration with the Government of Norway.
Background
International cooperation in solving the Cold War nuclear legacy problems has resulted in substantial progress in implementation of major projects. The emphasis has been upon activities to make spent nuclear fuel safe and recover and treat radioactive wastes to create safe and secure storage and disposal arrangements and to remediate the territories of the legacy sites themselves.
In order for these activities to be carried out in a safe and efficient manner, it is necessary to have an effective and independent process of regulatory supervision. The contact Expert Group (CEG) has been set up to support international cooperation and to facilitate coordination of these activities in relation to the Russian nuclear legacy from the cold war. One mechanism to achieve this is through Workshops attended by representatives from the Russian Federation and International Partners. The CEG members decided, at their meeting in Paris in September, 2008, to host this Workshop.
The workshop will include special sessions on Mayak Reprocessing Plant. Mayak PA in South Urals is the Russian endpoint for spent nuclear fuel processing and storage of radioactive waste. Large amounts of SNF and RW from various sources as a result of projects funded by donor countries and international organisations, are destined for treatment and/or storage at Mayak. It is, therefore, important to obtain knowledge and to discuss safety and the environmental impact caused by the activities at the Mayak PA.
Objective
The objective of this workshop is to provide an opportunity for participants to share recent experience in regulatory supervision issues, from the perspectives of both operators and regulators. This sharing is intended to result in an enhanced awareness of the most efficient way of meeting regulatory requirements, and in the identification of priorities and improvements which could be made in regulatory development, including both the requirements themselves and the process of regulatory supervision. Another objective which stems from the main one is to get knowledge and to discuss safety and environmental impact resulting from activities at Mayak PA. This will give the donor countries the knowledge regarding the impact of treatment and storage of SNF and RW resulting from the projects funded by donors; existing environmental problems at Mayak and status and plans for future environmental remediation.
Scope
The scope of the workshop includes operational nuclear and radiation safety, spent fuel and radioactive waste management, protection of the public and the environment, safety analysis and risk assessment, and emergency preparedness and response. Specific areas of interest include:
- Control and optimisation of especially hazardous operations
- Environmental monitoring and restoration criteria
- Criteria for radioactive and toxic waste treatment, packaging, transport, storage and disposal
- Coordination of regulatory activities among different regulatory authorities
- RW and SNF sent to Mayak so far and what is still to come under the SMP 2
- Management of medium and high level radioactive solid and liquid wastes at Mayak PA and storage capacities
- Information regarding regulatory control of Mayak PA – licensing, authorisation
- Radioactive releases during the current operation of Mayak PA
- The current environmental situation close to the Mayak PA site and plans for remediation
- Existing plans to improve safety and decrease environmental impacts from activities at Mayak PA.
Program
Every session will be introduced by one or two invited presentations. All topics will be concluded with a general discussion and when possible joint conclusions of relevance for the co-operation with Russia shall be made.
Session 1: General Issues of Regulation of Nuclear Activities
Session 2: Regulatory perspectives of the major operators and regulators related to remediation of the legacy sites
Session 3: Experience and lessons learned by donors implementing their projects in Russia (regulatory and licensing issues)
Session 4: Presentations on specific projects on regulatory issues and plans for future
Session 5: Safe management of SNF and RW at the Mayak Plant Workshop
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