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4.3. Analysis of the Proposed Russian Government Program for Handling, 



Recycling and Disposal of Radioactive Wastes and Spent Nuclear Materials for the 



1993-1995 Period and Through 2005, and of the Russian Federation Government 



Resolution of August 31, 1992 on the Recycling of Nuclear Submarines 



The teimination of discharges of LRW produced on Naval ships and at shipyards requires de- 

 velopment and implementation of a special program. Expert assessments show that the realization 

 of such a program will require at least five years and expenditures on the order of a billion rubles. 

 A program of compaction, reprocessing, storage and disposal of SRW will require significantly 

 greater outlays. The implementation of both these programs can be realized in the framework of 

 the special-purpose Russian Government Program for Handling, Recycling and Disposal of Ra- 

 dioactive Wastes and Spent Nuclear Materials for the 1993-1995 Period and Through 2005. The 

 program is presently under review by the Government of the Russian Federation. 



Section 9 of the Program, titled Handling Wastes Produced in the Operation and Decom- 

 missioning of Nuclear Propulsion Units, stipulates the allocation of over six billion rubles (in 

 1 992 prices) for the creation of shore and ship systems and units for reprocessing liquid and solid 

 RW produced during the operation and repair of nuclear power plants. 



The Program for Handling Radioactive Waste schedules for 1993 the conduct of a general 

 analysis of the formation and accumulation of RW in northern and far eastern areas of Russia and 

 the workup of a feasibility study for the development of specialized industrial capacity that will 

 meet the needs for temporary storage, processing and disposal of RW. Under the 1993-1995 Pro- 

 gram, pilot repositories are to be developed for disposal of solid and solidified low- and interme- 

 diate-level RW. 



If work on the Program is begun immediately, capacity for disposal of high-level SRW could 

 be brought on line in 1996. The plan calls for developing designs and by 2000 completing work 

 on the decommissioning or modernization of radioactively contaminated engineering structures of 

 shore maintenance centers and other Naval facilities. 



Measures to normalize the radiation conditions in Chazhma Bay and the town of Shkotovo- 

 22, Maritime Territory, are to be developed in 1993 and implemented by 1995. 



One item in Section 9 of the Program provides for assessment of the radioecological conse- 

 quences of RW disposal at sea and the sinking of NS's. 



A study of sinking sites of reactors with SNF in place is an urgent priority and must be per- 

 formed by the forces of a Russian expedition with international involvement no later than summer 

 1993. 



The other urgent measures included in the Program for Handling Radioactive Waste must 

 include immediate organization of the removal of SNF fi-om storage facilities (primarily floating 

 ones) of the Navy and Murmansk Maritime Shipping Line. Construction of new SNF storage fa- 

 cilities at Naval bases must also be arranged immediately and included in the program, and the 

 commissioning of the proposed SNF storage facilities of the Murmansk Maritime Shipping^ Line 

 must be advanced fi-om 1995 to 1994. 



Thus, the current draft Program does not take sufficient account of the RW handling prob- 

 lems that have arisen in the operation of nuclear-powered ships and vessels. 



A source of concern is the slow progress of the Program. Financing of work for the Program 

 appears clearly low and does not correspond to its stated objectives. 



A Resolution adopted by the Government of the Russian Federation in August 1992 specified 



49 



