Removal and Decommissioning of Disused Gamma Irradiator in Minsk, Belarus [electronic resource]

• Ngôn ngữ: eng
• Ký hiệu phân loại: 363.7 Environmental problems
• Thông tin xuất bản: Washington, D.C. : Oak Ridge, Tenn. : United States. National Nuclear Security Administration ; Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy, 2018
• Mô tả vật lý: Medium: ED : , digital, PDF file.
• Bộ sưu tập: Metadata
• ID: 261898
• Chủ đề: 1. 12 management of radioactive and non-radioactive wastes from nuclear facilities; 2. 46 instrumentation related to nuclear science and technology; 3. 61 radiation protection and dosimetry; 4. Irradiator, gamma, co-60, sealed source, decommissioning,

Tóm tắt

Under the scope of The Department of Energy?s Office of Radiological Security (ORS) Program the Belarusian company, ?Isotope Technologies? (IT), in concert with assistance of ?Radii? (a company based in Moscow, Russia) dismantled a disused gamma irradiator RKhM-?-20. This project required innovation, flexibility, and prior experience. The team successfully removed the radioactive sources from the site and moved them to the local radioactive waste facility Ekores. The gamma unit had been installed at the Minsk, Belarus Research Institute of Physical Organic Chemistry in 1971. This research center is a part of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. There were 48 highly radioactive Cobalt 60 sources inside the unit. During the dismantling process it was discovered that the source retaining drum was broken. Therefore, the removal proved to be much more complicated than originally envisioned. IT and Radii were unable to remove a number of sources from the drum by means of standard removal equipment and finally needed to remove the entire unit itself along with the remaining sources. The problem was further complicated by a very short timeframe allowed for work implementation. This was because the unit was located near an elementary school requiring the team to complete the project prior to the end of summer school holidays. Moreover, the unit itself was not easily accessible. The project team developed a technical solution and accomplished the removal.