What are Nuclear Facilities?

Lithuanian Law on Nuclear Energy describes the definition of nuclear facilities. According this law, nuclear facility – a nuclear power plant, a nuclear reactor, a storage facility for nuclear materials and radioactive waste, and their processing facility. As nuclear facilities are treated also radioactive wastes and spent nuclear fuel final disposal facilities.

 

Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (Ignalina NPP)

Ignalina NPP is located at the periphery of Lithuanian East, near the borders with Belorus and Latvia and constructed on the southern coast of Druksiai Lake. The first unit of the plant was commissioned on 31st of December 1983, the second one – on 15th August 1987.

Fig. 1 Ignalina NPP

 

Currently the RBMK-1500 (Reaktor bolshoj moshnnosti kanalnyj) water-cooled graphite-moderated channel-type power reactors of Ignalina nuclear power plant are stopped. The first unit of Ignalina NPP was finally stopped on 31st of December 2004, the second unit – on the end of 2009. The preparation for dismantling of the first unit is ongoing. For more information see the official Ignalina AE webpage.

 

Activities of the Radiation Protection Centre in the Field of Radiation Protection Supervision and Control at Nuclear Facilities

The main documents regulating radiation protection requirements at the nuclear facilities are:
• Lithuanian Hygiene Standard HN 73:2001 "Basic Standards of Radiation Protection";
• Lithuanian Hygiene Standard HN 87:2002 "Radiation Protection in Nuclear Facilities".

Occupational and public radiation protection requirements in one or another aspect also are regulated by other legal documents. The list of the documents is available in Legal documents in force.
According to the Law on Radiation Protection and the Law on Nuclear Energy, the Radiation Protection Centre:
1. Exercises state radiation protection supervision and control at the nuclear facilities;
2. Takes part in issuing licencies for construction, reconstruction and building of nuclear objects, facilities and installations;
3. Takes part in issuing licencies for operation of the nuclear facilities;
4. Takes part in issuing licencies for storage of nuclear and radioactive materials and radioactive waste;
5. Takes part in issuing licencies for decommissionig of the nuclear facilities;
6. Takes part in issuing licencies for disposal nuclear and radioactive materials and radioactive waste;
7. Takes part in issuing licencies to obtain, keep and transport nuclear materials;
8. Issues licencies to obtain, keep and transport radioactive materials;
9. Takes part in issuing licencies to export, import and for transit through territory of Lithuania nuclear, radioactive and other materials, used in nuclear energetics, also other materials, used in nuclear energetics, or dual-use items, which can be used in nuclear technology.

Radiation protection measures

Measures for occupational radiation protection in INPP:
• classification of working areas;
• classification of workers;
• local rules, measures of supervision of safety at work and order of organisation of work;
• personal protective equipment and manuals;
• application of optimisation principle (ALARA - As Low As Reasonably Achievable):
1. Work organization (planning of the dose budget, attempts to reduce the doses, time minimization for works in the high radiation fields, attempts to avoid the works, which leads to the high occupational doses, takedown and collection of equipment in big parts seeking to reduce work time in high radiation fields, organization of works in optimal sequence, the use of proper individual radiation protection mesures);
2. Training and education of the workers (instructions, study of the technological process, training using models and mock-ups);
3. Development of work conditions (reduction of the temperature of equipment and in the premises, installation of lighting, ventilation systems, shielding, stacks, temporary sanitary cleaning points);
4. Development of technological process (decontamination of equipment, flush out of the pipes (eg. Main Circulation Circuit), the use of high efficiency equipment for removing radioactive sludge, development of the hermetic features of the equipment for preventing leakages, the use of improved dosimetrical equipment for evaluation of the radiological situation, the use of automated equipment);
5. Development of the programme of quality assurance (procedures of exploitation, maintenance, radiation protection, which directly influence to implementation of programme ALARA);
6. culture of safety (development of the right point of view and understanding of the problems of safety by the workers, measures to avoid the human factor);
7. financial provision, sufficient for implementation ALARA measures. 

 

Last update 2010-07-27