Development of the decommissioning concept of the specialized enterprise for radioactive waste management UE "Ekores" in the Republic of Belarus

The specialized enterprise for radioactive waste management UE "Ekores" (hereinafter – "Ekores") is located 2 km away from Minsk city and was founded in 1963 to store radioactive waste (hereinafter – RW) resulted from the activities of the research reactor of the former Nuclear Energy Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR. The existing capacities of "Ekores" will ensure storage of RW generated in organizations of the Republic up to about 2030. However, further storage of RW in the old mothballed and being decommissioned near-surface storage facilities "Ekores" of the "Radon" type may cause a deterioration of the radioecological situation in the region. In 2019 in order to determine the objective level of radiation and environmental safety, as well as obtain initial data for the development of a RW extraction project Stock company "Logistics Center of NFC" (Russian Federation) together with Stock company "PDC UGR", Limited liability company AP "KVARK", FSUE "RADON" (Russian Federation) carried out works on a comprehensive engineering and radiation research (hereinafter – CERR) of mothballed and being decommissioned "Ekores" storage facilities. The state scientific institution "JIPNR – Sosny" of NAS of Belarus carried out scientific and methodological support of the mentioned activities on CERR. The recommended option for the decommissioning of "Ekores" is the option of its deferred dismantling, which assumes that there are deviations from the design solutions and the requirements of regulatory legal acts, while the RW storage is in a satisfactory condition and will ensure the radiation safety of the population and the environment in short term. This paper proposes a conceptual technological scheme for organizing decommissioning of mothballed "Ekores" storage facilities, provides conceptual design solutions for the extraction of the RW from the storage cells, gives recommendations for sorting, conditioning and packaging of the recovered RW, identifies measures to ensure radiation safety of the personnel involved in the work. A set of recommended measures for strengthening, replacing and repairing engineering structures and equipping "Ekores" storage facilities, as well as improving the radiation monitoring system, ensuring radiation safety of the population and the environment in the medium term, is presented. After carrying out a set of measures for the extraction, identification and inventory of solid RW and spent sources of ionizing radiation, there is a potential possibility to use the structures of the decommissioned storage facilities again as a RW storage facility for the orderly storage of RW and spent sources of ionizing radiation in containers until they are sent for placement at the RW final disposal facility. The proposed conceptual solutions will serve as the basis for the development of the concept for the decommissioning of "Ekores". (author)