STABILIZATION AND STORAGE OF SOLID RADIOACTIVE WASTE FROM THE RUSSIAN NAVY'S NORTHERN FLEET UNDER THE AMEC PROGRAM

The Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation (AMEC) Program is a cooperative effort between the Kingdom of Norway, the Russian Federation, and the United States. This paper discusses joint activities over the past year among Norwegian, Russian, and U.S. technical experts on solid radioactive waste (SRW) treatment and storage technologies in the Arctic for the Russian Navy. The use of Western technology and technologies jointly developed between Russia, the U.S. and Norway will facilitate meeting Russia’s needs for stabilizing and storing SRW from decommissioned nuclear submarines. Containers for transportation and storage of SRW are now under construction at a Russian shipyard. All work is directed at applications in northwest Russia where the Russian Navy is decommissioning large numbers of nuclear submarines. The missions of AMEC Projects 1.3 and 1.4 are to improve the Russian Navy’s capabilities in SRW treatment and storage, respectively, and thus minimize the spread of radiological contamination (Griffith A. et al., WM-99 and Griffith A. et al., WM-98). Treatment decisions made in Project 1.3 will determine the scale of storage necessary in Project 1.4 and conversely, the safe storage requirements can affect the selection of treatment technologies in Project 1.3. The ultimate goal of these projects is a safe, secure, and self-sustaining SRW treatment and storage capability in northwest Russia.