Taking account and electronic transmission microscopy monitoring of microcrack nucleation and propagation in the structural materials of objects utilizing atomic energy

Experimental data for monitoring microcrack nucleation and propagation in metallic samples are obtained for copper. New experimental results from a study performed with a transmission electron microscope of crack nucleation in copper samples deformed by stretching are presented. The results of monitoring a dislocation-free fracture zone in front of a microcrack tip are described. It is found experimentally that the metal in this zone underwent a transition from a crystalline into an amorphous state and embryonic microcracks originated precisely in this zone. Translated from Atomnaya énergiya, Vol. 106, No. 2, pp. 88–93, February, 2009.     

Mineral reserves of naturally radioactive thorium-bearing raw materials

The state of mineral reserves of thorium-bearing raw materials from the Kola Peninsula and other regions of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States is examined. Schemes for secondary extraction of thorium during processing of the most accessible raw-material sources – loparite, baddeleyite, monazite, pyrochlore, and columbite-tantalites – are presented. In theory, ores of operating mines, thorium-bearing wastes obtained during decontamination of reprocessed concentrates, as well as raw materials sources best prepared for processing, for example, perovskite concentrate from the Afrikanda field, rare-metal raw material from the Tomtor field, baddeleyite concentrate, and others, can meet the demand. It is concluded that in the near future about 300 tons thorium/yr can be obtained from accumulated wastes of operating mines and as a by-product of processing rare-earth raw material.     

Strategy for the environmental safety of radiologically dangerous objects

A strategy for environmental safety of radiologically dangerous objects is examined for one such object. The steps in performing the work oriented toward environmental safety are shown. The most likely variants for handling radioactive wastes are presented. The technological operations performed to ensure environmental safety of the object are examined. The choice of the final variant for increasing environmental safety is made after economic and environmental evaluation. The strategy developed for ensuring environmental safety can be used to examine other radiologically dangerous objects.     

Radioactivity monitoring in environmental water and air around QNPP

Results of environmental radioactivity monitoring around Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant (QNPP) are reported in this paper. From 1992 to 2005, concentrations of 90Sr, 137Cs and 3H in terrestrial freshwater are (4.4±1.7) mBq·L-1, (0.3±0.1) mBq·L-1 and (1.6±0.5) Bq·L-1, respectively, and (2.8±2.4) Bq·L-1 of 3H in rainwater. Concentrations of 90Sr, 137Cs and 3H in the seawater samples collected from sea area nearby QNPP are (5.4±4.1) mBq·L-1,(0.7±0.2) mBq·L-1 and (1.0±0.5) Bq·L-1, respectively. Concentrations of 90Sr, 137Cs and 3H in the total waste water discharged from NPP-I are (4.0±1.8) m Bq·L-1, (1.0±0.5) mBq·L-1 and (2.8±2.2) Bq·L-1, respectively, and (1.4±0.4)Bq·L-1 of 3H in seawater sampled from No.1 outlet. Atomspheric 3H concentration in 1993 ～ 2005 at two monitoring sites is (78.9±96.3) and (64.2±40.2) mBq·m-3, respectively, with an increasing trend after 2003. Atmospheric 14C concentrations at the two sites are in the same levels as the background and data of the reference site.     

Accounting and monitoring of materials in the nuclear fuel cycle

The main drawback of the existing normative base of the systems used for accounting for, monitoring, and physical protection of radioactive substances and wastes is that these systems ignore the experience which has been accumulated for nuclear materials. It is proposed in the present paper that the program-technological complexes used in the accounting and monitoring systems be unified and that the successful experience in developing such complexes at the Russian Science Center Kurchatov Institute in the form of the KI-MAKS system, which makes it possible to solve the problems of automatically accounting for, monitoring, and reporting on nuclear materials and radioactive substances and wastes, be utilized. It is shown that an effective solution of the problems of accounting for, monitoring, and physical protection in terms of cost-effectiveness can be attained by using the existing program-technological complex called a probabilistic expert-consulting system, which makes it possible to perform a quantitative analysis of the level of the safety culture in the nuclear fuel cycle. __________ Translated from Atomnaya énergiya, Vol. 101, No. 3, pp. 208–214, September, 2006.     

Use of accelerated light ions for elemental analysis of natural objects

Translated from Atomnaya Énergia, Vol. 67, No. 5, pp. 347–351, November, 1989.     

The raw material and waste activity balance in the projected nuclear power of Russia

Under discussion is the management of long-lived high-level wastes in the nuclear energy sector of Russia, the development of which on a large scale in the next century is motivated by the need for arresting the increasing consumption of fossil fuels. The prerequisites for the nuclear power growth consists in the design of naturally safe reactors and development of a transmutational nuclear fuel cycle (NFC) technology. The choice of operations in such a cycle and of their quantitative characteristics, is aimed at minimizing the wastes to approach the radiation balance with the natural uranium extracted and put to use. The paper discusses the way the approximation to the balance between the raw material and waste activity is influenced by introduction of the transmutational NFC (in case 2), inclusion of transmutation reactors into the energy mix (case 1), partial disposal of actinide wastes into outer space, and by recycling of protactinium (case 3). It is shown that such a balance can be sustained for a considerable time in cases 2 and 3 or throughout the operation stage of the future nuclear power (case 1).     

Continual radiation monitoring of submerged or sunken objects containing spent nuclear fuel in arctic seas

Experience with radiation surveys performed on submerged or sunken objects during expeditions in northwestern Arctic seas is briefly described. The drawbacks of such a forced approach and the advantages of continual radiation monitoring are compared. A variant of the component arrangement of a continually operating system which can be implemented by using a submersible measuring enclosure with detectors, an instrumentation block, and stationary buoys with radio transmitters is proposed.     

Metadata on the radioactive contamination of environmental objects on the territories of Russia and the USSR

A unique data archive, accumulated at the Taifun Scientific and Industrial Association in 1954–2005, on the radioactive contamination of the environment on the territory of the USSR and Russia is presented. The archive contains data on the yearly total β activity of atmospheric fallout on the underlying surface, the total volume β activity in the atmosphere at the ground, the results of measurements of the ⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs content in samples combined over one month or quarter, atmospheric aerosols and fallout on individual points, the volume activity of tritium and ⁹⁰Sr in water, rivers, lakes and seas, and the radionuclide contamination density of the territories of populated points as a result of the Chernobyl accident. __________ Translated from Atomnaya énergiya, Vol. 101, No. 2, pp. 149–152, August, 2006.