[en] The system is described of computer-aided preparation and accounting of the certificates of approval for radioactive materials of special form (RAM), shipments and package design, developed in ICC 'Nuclide' of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy. This system entitled the 'Certificates System' is a modern national analogue of the international PACKTRAM system, used by IAEA for managing the database of approval certificates worldwide. However, this new system has expanded the functional possibilities for the preparation of the certificates, as well as management and application of its databases by the various users. (author)

[en] The paper describes the test facility located near St. Petersburg (Russia) where test of packagings of mass up to 140 tons are carried out. The results of tests of some new designs of packaging for irradiated nuclear fuel are briefly considered. (author)

[en] As discussed in this presentation, the decommissioning of scrapped nuclear vessels in Russia has been too fast for the existing waste management plants to keep pace with. Existing facilities were designed to service the fleet in operation and are filled up. The development of new infrastructure for handling radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel is impeded by the lack of financial means. A large number of nuclear submarines are now laid up with the nuclear fuel still loaded, but the President and the Government have decided to speed up unloading of the spent fuel. The bottleneck is the discharge of the spent nuclear fuel. The Navy has three floating storage facilities for the purpose. The Navy performs many technological decommissioning operations that would have been more appropriately left for shipyards and specialised civil industrial enterprises. Coastal discharge plants at larger shipyards are planned on the North and the Pacific regions of Russia. These are built with US support. The containers used for transport to the Mayak storage are discussed. A metal-concrete container programme is executed in co-operation with Norway and the US. Mayak does not have the capacity for long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel. A temporary storage facility at Mayak has been designed by a consortium of enterprises from Norway, Sweden, UK and France. Lepse, a service-ship for the nuclear icebreaker fleet, was laid up in 1990. It contains spent nuclear fuel assemblies in such bad condition that they cannot easily be discharged. There is an international project for decommissioning Lepse. The Russians consider this a pilot project. The problems of the civil nuclear fleet are similar to those of the Navy

[en] The results of analysis of the existing system of conformance evaluation (CE) for radioactive materials (RM) transport are presented. It is shown that the system as a whole isn't harmonized, many forms of CE duplicate one another. Suggestions on the system modernization are made: reduction of the number of activities requiring licensing; substitution of licensing with registration or the notification of activity for the organizations transporting of low-level activity RM; exception of duplication of various forms of an evaluation for the same object of regulation; the maximum application of the CE forms accepted abroad and by IAEA; application of differentiated approach to use of this or that CE form, depending on the potential danger degree of RM cargo; harmonization with the CE forms in other areas. It is noted that modernization of system of CE requires practically no change of laws, there is enough change of the acts approved by the government

[en] Full text: The last decade of the 20th century was seeing the beginning of creation of a new technology for management of irradiated nuclear fuel (INF) at the end stage of fuel cycle, which was based on a different type of casks used for the long-term storage and subsequent delivery of INF to the sites of reprocessing, continued storage and final disposal. Concept of using a protective cask is applied, which ensures retention of the content (INF), as well observation of other requirements of safety in storage and transportation of INF. Protection from radioactive emanation and/or spread of radioactivity off the cask limits is ensured by physical barriers, that is, all-metal or composite body, cladding of the body, inner spaces for irradiated fuel assemblies (IFAs), and lids with sealing systems. Natural processes of the emission and convection of ambient air around the cask withdraw the IFAs afterheat to environment. The double-purpose packing set taken as both a transportation packing unit and a storage facility for INF must come up to requirements for the safety of, respectively, transportation and storage. National and international requirements to transportation packing sets and packages are presented with sufficient details in standards and regulations for safe transportation of radioactive materials, namely the IAEA regulations for safe transportation of radioactive materials, the most complete publication of which was issued in 1966. On national scale of Russia, there exist Rules for safe transportation of radioactive materials, PBTRM-2001, put into effect since the July 1st, 2002. In 2000, the 'Guiding documents' series included such operational normative documents as: - 'Storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel, using double-purpose casks. General technical requirements and rules to ensure the safety'; - 'Packing sets for transportation and storage of spent nuclear fuel, using double purpose casks. General technical requirements and rules to ensure the safety'. This paper considers some key issues involved in requirements of ensuring safety of double purpose sets for INF, and how such requirements are met at the phases of design, manufacture, test, and commission of a prototype. An example is given of production of the INF transportation and storage packing set. (author)

[en] Experience in transportation of spent fuel assemblies from nuclear power plants Novovoronezhskaya, Rajsberg and Bruno Lejshner have been analysed in the paper. Proceeding from the experience in transportation from these nuclear power plants, tasks have been formulated, which have to be solved for ensuring more effective transportation of spent fuels. Data are given on results of testing of new tarnsport packing set as well as of a car which is intended for transportation of spent fuels from nuclear power plants of the CMEA member-states which have WWER-440 reactors. Main directions and results of the finished stages of works dealing with transportation of spent nuclear fuel which have been conducted in the USSR and DDR, are considered in the paper. I n particular, results are stated of works which are going on: investigation in conditions of transportation of nuclear fuel with damaged fuet etements; investigation in the thermal regime of casks in the conditions of ''wet'' and ''dry'' transportation, including investigation of resistivity of fuel assemblies in gas and water wapor media at elevated temperatures; investigation in durability of transport casks; analysis of problems of nuclear safety of packages in normal and accidental conditions of transportation; investigation of danger of explosion of gas mixture in water-filled casks; investigation and analysis of conditions of spent fuet transportation by water transport

No abstract available

[en] The paper considers the main principles involved in the organization in the USSR of the transport of irradiated nuclear power plant fuel by special trains, with account taken of experience already gained. Certain provisions of the current USSR regulations for safety and physical protection in the transport of nuclear materials are discussed. (author)

[en] Cost on construction of fast reactors as compared to thermal reactors of new generation under current conditions are considered. Data on capital investments into the NPP construction with reactors of various types under conditions of one site are presented. Impact of serial production factor is considered, as well as materials consumption of perspective reactor facilities is considered. The conclusion on the ambiguity of the statement that the fast reactors are more expensive as compared to the thermal ones is made on the basis of these data relative to the Russian nuclear power engineering. 6 refs., 5 tabs

[en] In the Russian Federation the system of the state guarantees works for safety of consignors and consignees personnel, transport workers, population and environment during transportation of radioactive materials (RM). The Russian system of state control of RM transports, including the system of safety supervision in this field, provides sufficient guarantees of safety standards performance in practice. Nevertheless, the system needs to be improved, to achieve harmonization of supervisory activities and optimization of control instruments according to recommendations of IAEA and world practice. It is necessary to eliminate duplication of supervision of the same safety issues, to develop the common normative document determining the sequence of obtaining these or those permissions from the state or other authorities