INVENTORY PROJECT

Assistance in Combating Illegal Use and Illicit Trafficking of Radioactive Materials in Eastern Ukraine

Urgency

The events in eastern Ukraine led to the loss of regulatory control by the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) over individual territories in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions. The system of nuclear and radiation safety thus faced new challenges.

The urgent need caused the office of the South-Eastern Nuclear and Radiation Safety Inspectorate to move from Donetsk to Zaporizhzhya, but it lost IT support and hardware. Nevertheless, despite the extreme conditions, the Inspectorate continued to perform its functions and tasks pertaining to state regulation of radiation safety.

The following radiation sources and facilities currently remain beyond regulatory control in eastern Ukraine: about 1200 radionuclide sources of categories 1-5, including radionuclide sources at two coal mining enterprises of the Donbas region that integrate 15 coal mines (142 radiation sources with a maximum activity of 2.35 × 1011 Bq for an individual radiation source); 65 entities that use radiation sources (including eight hospitals that use high-level radiation sources of category 1 with activity above 1000 Ci); and Donetsk state specialized radwaste treatment plant of the Ukrainian Association Radon.

It should be noted that, in accordance with Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine “On Temporary Measures for the Period of Anti-Terrorist Operation” dated 2 September 2014, the bodies and officials authorized to exercise state oversight (control) of economic activities are temporarily prohibited to perform scheduled and unscheduled inspections of economic entities operating in the period and on the territory of the Anti-Terrorist Operation. Nevertheless, it is allowed to conduct unscheduled inspections of economic entities that are referred to the ones with high risk level in accordance with the risk assessment criteria approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

Cabinet Resolution No. 1275-r dated 2 December 2015 referred all settlements of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions where economic entities using radiation sources were located to the territory of Anti-Terrorist Operation.

According to the SNRIU, no state oversight measures have been carried out by the SNRIU since mid-2014 at nuclear entities in eastern Ukraine (Donetsk and Lugansk regions) as those located in the area beyond Ukraine’s control, with the exception of two medical institutions using category 1 radiation sources for radiation therapy. Information on radiation safety in the use of radiation sources is provided only in the licensees’ annual reports. Therefore, there is an urgent need to perform physical inventory of radiation sources to prevent radiological accidents caused by potential loss of radiation sources used by enterprises in eastern Ukraine and to restore complete information on these sources.

Project Initiators and Performers

Implementation of the Inventory Project became possible through signature of a Partner Agreement between the State Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety and the Science and Technology Center of Ukraine with support of the US Department of State and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

SSTC NRS experts will be involved in the missions and SSTC NRS measurement instrumentation is planned to be used.

What Is Inventory?

Inventory under the project is not an inspection and does not provide for any punishment for entities that use radiation sources. The project is intended to take a physical inventory of sealed radiation sources, identify those that may have been lost and appropriately update the State Register of Radiation Sources.

The inventory covers only nuclear entities located on the territories under Ukrainian control and is performed within unscheduled target inspections (inspections). Such inspections can be performed within the Procedure for State Oversight of Compliance with Nuclear and Radiation Safety Requirements, approved by Cabinet Resolution No. 824 dated 13 November 2013, specifically in connection with the events that have or may have impact on the safety of facilities subject to state oversight and lead to emergencies.

Arrangements and Implementation

Arrangements for and performance of inspections include the following activities: analyze available information on radiation sources (in operation or storage) in the state oversight areas controlled by the South-Eastern Inspectorate, using information from annual reports on radiation safety, data from the State Register of Radiation Sources and other information; arrange inspections and execute all necessary documents (notification of enterprises, development of inspection plans and administrative documents, etc.); take measures for a physical inventory of radiation sources in inspections (check the availability of radiation sources at enterprises and compliance of their condition, storage locations and safety requirements with economic entity documents and permits and with data from the State Register of Radiation Sources); record the findings of unscheduled inspections with inventory reports being attached; and enter relevant information into an individual database.

The Inventory Project includes six stages. The phase that dealt with data collection, including the identification of a list and types of sources at the sites selected for inventory and their description, taking into account the conditions of operation or storage and the level of potential hazard, has been successfully completed. Experts of the SSTC NRS Emergency Preparedness and Radiation Monitoring Department took also all necessary measures to plan future inspections: outlined procedures for each type of source, including measurements or other methods to identify sources (depending on the specific features of facilities) and developed a general inspection plan. To implement the project, necessary measuring instrumentation and reusable personal protective equipment were purchased. They included metal detectors, portable radio sets, individual dosimeters, etc.

Analysis was carried out using data from the State Register of Radiation Sources and the South-Eastern Nuclear and Radiation Safety Inspectorate.

Since the range of technological processes of enterprises that use radiation sources is rather extensive, it is extremely important to collect the descriptive part. After analyzing the information on sealed radiation sources, such as the type and activity of radionuclide and the type of source casing, the experts determined the technological processes that involved these sources. This allowed them to develop a methodology for taking an inventory of various sources with an understanding of how and in what equipment the sources were located and whether they were physically accessible.

Depending on the access to radiation sources, two types of inspections will be performed: standard inspection 1 when there is access (full or limited) to a radiation source and standard inspection 2 when access to a radiation source is virtually absent.

If a suspicious material/item has been revealed in illegal trafficking, measures will be implemented in accordance with the Procedure for Interaction between Executive Authorities and Legal Entities Acting in the Area of Nuclear Energy.

All data obtained in the inspections will be entered into the information system “Inventory of Radiation Sources” implemented on the software of the “Register” automated system within the State Register of Radiation Sources, taking into account the current aspects of data accounting and analysis.

The Inventory Project started in October,15, 2019 and is planned to be implemented over 2.5 years.

Staff Training for Inventory of Sealed Radiation Sources

Another important stage of the project is staff training, in which the experts are to undergo the training course “Development of Practical Skills for Inventory of Radiation Sources in Actual Conditions of Their Use”.

The training is divided into four modules, which contain both theoretical and practical sessions. In particular, they deal with the following aspects: types of sealed radiation sources and their industrial and medical applications, best world practices of inventory and measurements, radiation safety, personal protection of workers, methods and means for decontamination of individual protection means and equipment, types of transport containers and determination of the necessary protection for radiation sources, methodology of physical inventory, etc.

The knowledge and skills acquired in the training course will be tested according to agreed scenarios in field conditions.

The inventory training programme was individually developed and tailored to specific conditions, including the needs of project participants. The training course will be provided by the organization that will win a tender. This organization is required to have adequate experience in reviews of licensing documents and regulatory requirements and in training and provision of research services for both the U.S. government and nuclear regulators of other countries.

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