Storage and disposal of spent sealed radioactive sources in Belarus

Radioactive waste in Belarus comes from 300 industry companies; 40 medical institutions;100 industrial and research laboratories; past activity on decommissioning a research reactor and a pilot mobile plant 'Pamir' ;'Chernobyl' waste; two radioactive waste repositories in the sites where Russian military units had been dislocated. The Ekores facility was commissioned ensure safe and efficient waste management practice for waste generated in research and industrial applications. Up to now this is the only facility in the country designed and licensed for low and intermediate level radioactive waste storage/disposal. Ekores site had no waste segregation or waste processing procedure. For storage and disposal of spent sealed radioactive sources (SRS) there exist two options: 1) SRS in protective containers with upper wall unloading were disposed of in the above mentioned vaults for low and intermediate level waste together with their biological shielding. 2) SRS from containers with bottom unloading were disposed of in bore-hole repositories or so-called 'wells, which were located approximately 3m from the edge of the vault. The bore-hole repositories were designed for disposal of sources with the total radioactivity corresponding to a radium equivalent of 20 000 g-eqv. By now the sources in wells are embedded into a metal matrix using technology and equipment of the Russian Association 'RADON'. In 1997 the project for the Ekores facility reconstruction was launched. The project covered: upgrading of the existing structures (a garage, a decontamination unit, a fence); construction of 3 new structures (a building for SSRS disposal, a building for waste pre- disposal treatment and a vault for solid waste disposal); introduction of more advanced technologies for safe handling of solid and liquid LILW. Safety assessment showed : first-generation trenches contain waste with a concentration of transuranic radionuclides in excess of 4000 Bq/g; migration of radioisotopes C-14, Cl-36, Co-60, H-3, Pu-239, Ra-226, Sr-90, U-238 from the Ekores repositories may result in contamination of ground water within the supervised area; radionuclides Pu-239, Ra-226, Am-241, Th-232 represent a danger for future generations as long-lived radio toxic isotopes and may contaminate the aquifers in the not so distant future. An advanced conception for the Ekores facility reconstruction has been developed. Its main goal is to provide a flexible possibility of relocating long-lived waste to a new disposal/storage repository. A procedure has been developed for storage/disposal of spent radioactive sources (RS). There are two waste repositories that were used by Russian Federation military units and now are located in sites of their former dislocation. Any documents on construction and contents of the facilities are not available. But according to the results of preliminary examination the repositories are concrete wells, loaded with sealed radioactive sources (Cs-137, Sr-60, Co-60). Currently the advanced examination of the sites is being conducted