Restoration and Assessment of the Extent of Contamination of the National Radioactive Waste Storage and Disposal Centre in Tajikistan - 11481

The National Radioactive Waste Storage and Disposal Centre (Republican Point of Burial for Radioactive Waste [RPBRW in Tajik]) was established in 1960 in the Faizabad region, which is approximately 50 km east of the capital, Dushanbe. The site is located in a sparsely populated area of the Gissar Valley. The nearest villages are located a few km from the site. The site was designed and built to accept a wide range of contaminated materials, including obsolete smoke detectors, sealed radioactive sources, waste from medical institutions, and radioactive liquids. Between 1962 and 1976, 363 tonnes and 1146 litres of material, contaminated with a range of radionuclides, were shipped to the site. Between 1972 and 1980 and between 1985 and 1991, ~4.8 x 10 14 and 2 x 10 13 Bq, respectively, were shipped to the site. An additional 7 x 10 14 Bq was shipped to the site in 1996. Partly as a result of the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, the disposal site has fallen into disrepair and currently presents both an environmental hazard and a potential for the proliferation of radionuclides that could potentially be used for illicit purposes.Remediation of the disposal site was started in 2005. New security fences were erected and a new superstructure over an in-ground storage site was constructed. A central alarm monitoring and observation station has been built. Information on the geology, flora, and fauna of the region has been compiled. Radiation surveys of the buildings and the storage and disposal sites have been carried out. Samples of soil, surface water and vegetation have been collected and analyzed by gamma spectrometry. Results show a slight extent of contamination of soils near the filling ports of the underground liquid storage container where a 137 Cs concentration of 2.3 x 10 4 Bq/kg was obtained. Similar values were obtained for 226 Ra. Radiation fields of the in-ground storage site were generally <1 μSv/h with 8% exceeding this value. Neutron radiation levels at the same location were also low with a few reading exceeding 10 μSv/h. No contamination was detected in any of the flora sampled. Recommendations for future action are presented.