DERIVATION OF ACTIVITY LIMITS FOR STORAGE OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES AT "RADON" SITES IN RUSSIA

One important issue in radioactive waste management is derivation of the total activity or amount of radioactive wastes, which could be safely placed in repositories at the site. In 2002 MosNPO"Radon" together with Gosatomnadzor, the Russian Regulatory body, started developing the procedure for derivation of activity limits for long term controlled storage of radioactive wastes at "Radon" sites. The MosNPO"Radon" site near Sergiev Posad (the Site) had been chosen as the object and the test site for consideration in this study. The Site is the biggest in the Russian Federation and its intake is 3000-5000 cubic meters of wastes annually. It has been under operation since 1961. To derive the activity limits for long term controlled storage in near surface facilities at “Radon” Site the safety assessment approach developed in the framework of the IAEA ISAM Research Coordinated Programme (1997-2001) has been used. In the paper, the authors present the initial results of the calculations performed for derivation of total activity of low and intermediate level radioactive wastes that may be safely stored/disposed in considered conditions.