DTI Nuclear Legacy Programme: Andreeva Bay

Andreeva Bay is located in the Zapadnaya sea inlet at the extreme North-West of the Kola Peninsula (Russian Federation), about 40km from the Norwegian border. It is rather inaccessible, except by sea and the nearest town with facilities for Western visitors is Murmansk some 80km to the SE. Spent nuclear fuel (SNF) was initially stored in two large pools within building 5, however after serious leaks the fuel was transferred to an external “drystore” constructed by adapting three existing concrete tanks, previously allocated for the storage of liquid radwaste. There are currently approximately 20,000 spent fuel assemblies (SFA) stored within the three tanks. The storage conditions of the assemblies are less than adequate, the steel canisters used to store the assemblies are in poor condition and their standard of manufacture was not good. Shielding is locally inadequate and the concrete roof segments are ill fitting with snowmelt known to enter the tanks. Building 5 still contains some fuel fragments that could not readily be moved. The remaining water and structure remain highly active and this included some 4000Ci in sludge and debris at the bottom of the pool. The UK has agreed to support activities to improve the conditions at Andreeva Bay, with respect to SNF management, and DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) have appointed RWE NUKEM as their project management consultants for their Nuclear Legacy Programme in North-West Russia. A number of projects have been identified by the Russian Federation Ministry of Atomic Energy, MINATOM, and these are currently in the project definition stage. These include the characterisation of Building 5, an options study for SNF management at the site, and the construction of a cover for Tank 3a. This paper will describe the current conditions with respect to spent nuclear fuel at Andreeva bay and will discuss the proposed projects under consideration for funding by DTI.