Nuclear Materials Safety Management Volume II

LESLIE J. JARDINE Lmvrence Livermore National LaboratOlY Livermore, CA 94551 U. S. A. The Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on Nuc1ear Materials Safety held lune 8-10, 1998, in St. Petersburg, Russia, was attended by 27 Russian experts from 14 different Russian organizations, seven European experts from six different organizations, and 14 V. S. experts from seven different organizations. The ARW was conducted at the State Education Center (SEC), a former Minatom nuc1ear training center in St. Petersburg. Thirty-three technical presentations were made using simultaneous translations. These presentations are reprinted in this volume as a formal ARW Proceedings in the NATO Science Series. The representative technical papers contained here cover nuc1ear material safety topics on the storage and disposition of excess plutonium and high enriched uranium (HEU) fissile materials, inc1uding vitrification, mixed oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication, plutonium ceramics, reprocessing, geologic disposal, transportation, and Russian regulatory processes. This AR W completed discussions by experts of the nuc1ear materials safety topics that were not covered in the previous, companion ARW on Nuc1ear Materials Safety held in Amarillo, Texas, in March 1997. These two workshops, when viewed together as a set, have addressed most nuc1ear material aspects of the storage and disposition operations required for excess HEV and plutonium (see Fig. 1, Opening Remarks).

Welcome and Introduction.- Opening Remarks.- Overviews and Perspectives.- Russian Viewpoint on the Safety of Nuclear Materials.- U.S. Perspectives on Nuclear Materials Safety.- The RF Regulators’ View of Nuclear Materials Safety.- Medical Provision of Radiation Safety While Handling Radioactive Substances.- Summary of Nuclear Materials Safety ARW in Amarillo and its Relationship to this Workshop.- Reactor Safety and Mox Fuels.- Cooperative Efforts to Improve the Safety of Soviet-Designed Nuclear Power Plants.- Research on Nuclear Criticality Safety and Accident Risk Evaluation for Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities.- Safety and the French-German-Russian Trilateral MOX Fabrication Facility in Russia: DEMOX.- Safety of the Belgonucleaire MOX Fabrication Plant.- Ensuring the Safety of MOX Fuel Transport.- Safety Problems for Long-Term Underground Storage and Final Disposal of Nuclear Materials.- Vitrification Safety with Extrapolations to Plutonium.- Safety Issues of Russian EP-500 Ceramic Melter and the Feasibility of Its Usage to Vitrify Pu-Containing Materials.- French Vitrification Process Safety Issues.- British Vitrification Process Safety Issues.- DWPF Vitrification Safety Issues.- MOL Vitrification Process (PAMELA) Safety Issues.- Plutonium Processing Safety Issues of Immobilization in Ceramics.- Safety Problems of Plutonium Management and its Immobilization in Crystal Mineral-like Forms.- Safety Issues of U.S. Ceramic Process for Excess Plutonium Immobilization.- Safety of Plutonium Processing Operations and Shutdown.- Safety Problems Related to the Operation and Shutdown of Radiochemical Production.- The Problem of Fire and Explosion Safety in Radiochemical Production Processes.- Safety Issues Associated with Safe Shutdown and Operation of Plutonium ProcessingPlants.- U.S. DOE Safety Knowledge Base: Its Integration and Utilization.- Development of a Nuclear Materials Safety Program for the Year 2000.- Establishing a Basis for a United States—Russian Federation Multi-year Program in Nuclear Materials Safety.- The University-to-University Components.- The Master of Science Graduate Program in Nuclear Material Safe Management.- University Contributions to Research in Nuclear Materials Safety.- The Lab-to-Institute Components—RF View.- The Lab-to-Institute Components—U.S. View.- Possible Approaches for a Lab-to-Lab Program Plan.- Approaches to Prioritizing the Lab-to-Lab Program.- Summary and Closing Discussion.- Workshop Summary and Wrap-up: Panel and Participant Discussions.- Index of Authors and Titles.