Cleaning Up Sites Contaminated with Radioactive Materials: International Workshop Proceedings (2009)

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23 Criteria for Categorizing Territories at Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency Enterprises Experiencing Chemical and Radioactive Contamination* S. N. Brykin, All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Chemical Technology N. K. Shandala, State Science Center Institute of Biophysics N. S. Roznova, All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Chemical Technology A. V. Titov, State Science Center Institute of Biophysics Two circumstances led us to develop the following criteria to categorize ter- ritories at Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) enterprises exhibit- ing chemical and radioactive contamination. The first is the presence in Russia of sites that continue to be affected by technogenic contamination due to radiation accidents and previous activities involving nuclear technologies. The second is the need to remove from operation the facilities still presenting radiation hazards that have outlived their usefulness as well as the possibility of reducing the size of areas devoted to protected sanitary zones or observation zones around enter- prises. In these instances, matters related to the future use of the lands thus freed up must be addressed. From the standpoint of ensuring environmental security, the most substantial issues involve the consequences of defense activities that polluted the environ- ment in the first years when nuclear weapons were produced. These activities   *Translated from the Russian by Kelly Robbins.   The April 1986 Chernobyl accident was a special case, and contamination resulting from it is not addressed in this paper.   Sanitary zones are established in areas immediately surrounding enterprises or sites, and access to them is stringently controlled. Observation zones are farther removed from the enterprise or site but have monitoring systems in place to collect relevant environmental data. 179 

180 CLEANING UP SITES CONTAMINATED WITH RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS led to the accumulation of large volumes of radioactive waste that have not been placed in environmentally safe conditions. Although today it is recognized that the normal operations of modern nuclear power plants and other nuclear industry facilities are not associated with any significant risks to public health or the environment, in the foreseeable future the industry must address a wide range of resource-consuming environmental problems. One of these broad issues, the rehabilitation of environmental media, must be resolved in order to ensure long-term environmental security.  SCOPE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REHABILITATION In late 2005 the total contaminated area associated with the nuclear industry was 474.6 km2, including the following: • Industrial sites—62.6 km2 • Protected sanitary zones—215.1 km2 • Observation zones—196.9 km2 A total of 26 organizations in the Russian nuclear industry and nuclear power sector had sites contaminated with radionuclides, including 16 organizations be- longing to Rosatom. The organizations with contaminated sites are located in 20 regions (7 different federal districts) of the Russian Federation. The breakdown of contaminated territories by location zones—on industrial sites, in protected sanitary zones, and in observation zones—is illustrated in Figure 23-1.  Contamination of sites at nuclear industry organizations and power facili- ties is defined mainly in terms of the nuclides cesium-137, strontium-90, and plutonium-239, as well as nuclides of uranium, thorium, and radium. According to currently existing industry recommendations, the decision to rehabilitate radionuclide-contaminated territories at industrial sites and in pro- tected sanitary zones must be made if the open-air dose exceeds dose limit B for personnel or if the dose level under external full-body exposure totals 2.5 μGr per hour. Figure 23-2 illustrates dose levels of gamma radiation at radiation-  Solonin, M. I., ed. 2003. Industry safety report of the Russian Federation Ministry of Atomic Energy. Moscow: Komtekhprint Publishing House, 124 pp.  Op. cit.   Brykin, S. I., and I. S. Serebryakov. 2005. Recommendations in the 2005 industry safety report: Materials from the Industry Department of Environmental Protection of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise—All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Chemical Technology, 49 pp.  Op. cit.  The dose limit for category B, 5,000 μSv, is divided by the number of working hours in a year, 2,000, to equal 2.5 μGr per hour. Criteria for decision-making on rehabilitation of sites as a result of the operations of nuclear industry enterprises. 1997. Moscow: All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Solid Fuel Chemistry, 28 pp. 

CATEGORIZING TERRITORIES 181 2 km 88.6 17.2 250 200 179.7 150 3.2 126.5 100 50 59.4 0 Industrial sites Protected Observation sanitary zones zones Land Water FIGURE 23-1  Distribution of radionuclide-contaminated territories by location zones. Figure 23-1.eps km 2 200.00 180.00 160.00 Industrial sites 140.00 Protected sanitary zones Observation zones 120.00 100.00 80.00 60.00 40.00 20.00 0.00 Up to 0.5 0.5-2 micrograys/hour >2 micrograys/hour micrograys/hour FIGURE 23-2  Distribution of radiation-contaminated sites by dose levels of gamma radiation. Figure 23-2.eps 

182 CLEANING UP SITES CONTAMINATED WITH RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS contaminated sites, broken down by area types—industrial sites, protected sani- tary zones, and observation zones. REGULATORY AND LEGAL BASE The regulatory and legal base that has taken shape during the past decade has facilitated the safe operation of industry enterprises (see Figure 23-3). However, experience of its practical application also revealed problems associated primarily with the insufficient adaptation of the regulations to socioeconomic realities and tasks involved with promoting the country’s sustainable development. One such problem was that Russian radiation hygiene regulations lacked special criteria for categorizing radiation and chemical contamination sites at nuclear industry enterprises. The initiation of special environmental programs and passage of Russian government resolutions served as an incentive for the development of such criteria. RULES FOR CATEGORIZING ROSATOM ENTERPRISES SITES SUBJECTED TO CHEMICAL AND RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION The rules for site categorization (hereafter referred to as “the rules”) establish requirements for areas subjected to radioactive or chemical contamination or both as a result of the activities of Rosatom enterprises. They also set criteria that serve as the basis of decisions on the rehabilitation of sites; the conduct of ameliorative, site clearance, and soil treatment efforts on them; the establishment of protected zones; and the preservation of facilities located on such sites. The rules are intended to define degrees of chemical and radioactive contam-   Federal Law on Special Environmental Programs for Rehabilitating Radiation-Contaminated Sites, No. 92-FL, July 10, 2001. Federal Law on the Transfer of Land or Parcels of Land from One Category to Another, No. 172-FL, December 21, 2004. Resolution of the Russian Government on the Use of Land Subjected to Radioactive and Chemical Contamination, the Conduct of Ameliora- tive, Site Clearance, and Soil Treatment Efforts, and the Establishment of Protected Zones, No. 112, February 27, 2004.   The rules were developed by the following coauthors: S. N. Brykin, I. S. Serebryakov, N. S. Roznova, M. V. Bufetova, S. A. Yakushev (Federal State Unitary Enterprise—All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Chemical Technology); I. I. Linge, S. V. Kazakov, A. I. Ilyushkin, I. A. Osipy- ants, L. M. Vorobyova (Russian Academy of Sciences Nuclear Safety Institute); V. P. Tishkov, A. V. Stepanov, Yu. A. Panteleev, V. M. Gavrilov, S. K. Vasiliev, Ye. L. Lebedev (Federal State Unitary Enterprise—V. G. Khlopin Radium Institute Research and Production Association); I. I. Kryshev, A. I. Kryshev, T. G. Sazykina, K. D. Badagyan, M. N. Katkova, L. V. Makarova (Typhoon Research and Production Association—State Institution); L. A. Ilyin, N. K. Shandala, O. A. Kochetkov, M. N. Savkin, N. Ya. Novikova, S. G. Monastyrskaya, N. P. Sayapin, A. V. Titov, V. A. Seryogin (State Science Center—Institute of Biophysics); I. P. Korenkov (Radon Moscow Research and Production Association); and G. S. Perminova (Federal Monitoring Service for the Protection of Consumers’ Rights and Human Welfare [Rospotrebnadzor]). 

CATEGORIZING TERRITORIES 183 Russian Laws, Presidential Decrees, Government Resolutions Basic Sanitary Rules for Sanitary Rules Radiation for Radioactive Ensuring Radiation Safety of Safety Norms Waste Personnel and the Population RSN-99 Management BSRERS-99 SRRWM-2002 Hygiene Requirements for the Design of Nuclear Industry Enterprises and Facilities HRD NIEF-03 Requirements, recommendations, methodological guidelines Nuclear Nuclear Warehouses Assembly Radioactive power fuel and enterprises wastes plants cycle repositories FIGURE 23-3  Regulatory-methodological base for ensuring radiation safety for Rosatom enterprise personnel and the population within the framework of sanitary legislation. Figure 23-3.eps ination of sites and to determine procedures for their use, as follows, depending on the nature and level of contamination and on indicators of unfavorable effects on human health or the environment: • Transfer of land into conservation preserve status • Use for a specific purpose under special conditions • Use for a specific purpose without any special conditions The rules were developed for use by all legal entities and individuals own- ing contaminated territories, officials of the organizations operating radiation facilities, and organizations conducting environmental assessments and land rehabilitation. These rules apply to land and bodies of water located on the fol- lowing territories: • Sites contaminated as a result of unplanned situations and accidents at radiation facilities • Areas freed up as a result of the reduction in size of protected sanitary zones around radiation facilities 

184 CLEANING UP SITES CONTAMINATED WITH RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS • Previously occupied protected sanitary zones, industrial sites, and pro- tected zones around radiation facilities that have now been removed from operation • Protected sanitary zones, industrial sites, and protected zones of operat- ing radiation facilities In accordance with Article 55 of the Federal Law on the Sanitary- Epidemiological Welfare of the Population, responsibility for complying with these rules lies with the management of the various Rosatom enterprises (organizations). Compliance with the rules is monitored by federal executive branch agencies empowered to exercise state management of the use of nuclear energy. The primary objective of land categorization is to identify, evaluate, and analyze current hazards and threats caused by existing contamination, with the aim of developing, introducing, and improving preventive measures to ensure the safe operation of related facilities. The criterion used to categorize sites with radioactive and chemical contamination of soil and water is the level of potential danger to the public and the environment. The numerical values of the criteria were developed taking into account existing Russian sanitary-epidemiological and radiation hygiene regulations. Attention was also paid to current international experience, particularly approaches to ensuring radiation safety laid out in the new recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protec- tion (ICRP). The draft of the ICRP fundamental recommendations, which is being pre- pared to replace the previous fundamental recommendations laid out in 90 ICRP publications, develops a new approach to ensuring radiation safety in various exposure situations. The primary special feature of the draft recommendations lies in their departure from differentiating practical activities and intervention. Instead, the ICRP has proposed three exposure situations: planned, accidental, and existing. The category of existing exposure refers to unregulated ionizing radiation sources already existing when a decision is made regarding the need to monitor or control them. This pertains to natural sources such as radon, as well as previous nuclear activities considered in this work. The second feature of the new ICRP recommendations is their call for the optimization of radiation protection under boundary dose conditions in each case of exposure. Previously, boundary doses were used only as a control to monitor sources within the framework of the given practice. Under the new recommendations, the concepts of levels of intervention and levels of action no longer exist; they have been replaced by   See Draft Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection, May 3, 2007, available online at www.icrp.org.   Assessing dose of the representative person for the purpose of radiation protection of the public and the optimization of radiological protection. ICRP Publication 101. Annals of the ICRP 36(3). 

CATEGORIZING TERRITORIES 185 boundary doses, which are defined as the upper limits for the optimization of protection.10 CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION OF SOIL AND BODIES OF WATER Criteria for assessing soil contamination are set by the existing hygiene and environmental regulations, including maximum allowable concentration (MAC), reference allowable concentration (RAC), and reference allowable action level. MAC calculations include specific and integrated soil quality indicators. Soils are categorized according to their level of contamination: clean, allowable, mod- erately hazardous, hazardous, and extremely hazardous.11 The degree of soil contamination is characterized by the total contamination indicator and the actual chemical substance content in the soil. The total indicator for chemical contamination of soil makes it possible to determine the degree of chemical contamination of soils in sites being studied for the presence of harmful substances of various hazard classes. The concentra- tion coefficient for a chemical substance is defined as the ratio of actual chemi- cal substance content in the soil to the background value and, for contaminants of anthropogenic origin, as the quotient of the division of its mass share by the corresponding MAC. Regional soil indicators should be used as background values for the concentrations of chemical substances. The concept of regional background content of chemical substances entails their content in soils at sites not experiencing any technogenic load. Indicators of the level of soil contamination are established depending on their further functional significance—that is, the purposes for which the rehabili- tated land will be used. Classification of soils by their degree of contamination is presented in Table 23-1.12 Existing hygiene and environmental norms are used as criteria for evaluating the contamination of bodies of water, including the MAC and RAC for chemical substances in bodies of water, which have been approved according to estab- lished procedures.13 For bodies of water used for communal drinking water and recreational purposes, the MAC for chemical agents in the water must not have a direct or indirect effect on the human body over an entire lifetime and must not impact the health of future generations. It must also not be detrimental to hygienic conditions for water use. For bodies of water used for commercial fishery pur- poses, the regulated standard is the MAC for the harmful substance in the water, which must not have a harmful effect on the fish population, primarily fish being 10  Op. cit. 11  Sanitary rules and norms 2.1.7.1287-03. Sanitary-epidemiological requirements for soil quality. 12  Op. cit. 13  Hygiene Norms 2.1.5.1315-03. Maximum allowable concentrations for chemical substances in bodies of water. 

186 TABLE 23-1  Assessment of Levels of Chemical Contamination of Soils Content in Soil (mg/kg) Hazard Class I Hazard Class II Hazard Class III Contamination Total Organic Inorganic Organic Inorganic Organic Inorganic Category Indicator Compounds Compounds Compounds Compounds Compounds Compounds Clean — From background From background to From background From background to From background From background to to MAC MAC to MAC MAC to MAC MAC Allowable <16 1-2 MAC From 2 backgrounds 1-2 MAC From 2 backgrounds 1-2 MAC From 2 backgrounds to MAC to MAC to MAC Moderately 16-32 1-2 MAC From 2 backgrounds 1-2 MAC From 2 backgrounds 2-5 MAC From 2 backgrounds hazardous to MAC to MAC to MAC Hazardous 32-128 2-5 MAC From MAC to 2-5 MAC From MAC to >5 MAC > Cmax Cmax Cmax Extremely >128 >5 MAC > Cmax >5 MAC > Cmax >5 MAC > Cmax hazardous NOTE: Cmax indicates the maximum value for the allowable level of element content based on one of four hazard indicators. 

CATEGORIZING TERRITORIES 187 commercially raised. In cases where a body of water is entirely or partially used simultaneously by various types of water users, the strictest quality regulations for surface waters must be taken into account, namely the norms for bodies of waters used for commercial fisheries. For assessing the level of contamination in bodies of water, a special com- bined contamination index is used, taking into account not only actual concentra- tions of ingredients in the water but also multiple rate indicators and frequencies with which levels exceed the MAC. Water quality is classified according to the values achieved in the combined contamination index (see Table 23-2). TABLE 23-2  Characteristics of Integrated Water Quality Assessment Combined Contamination Index Water Quality Class Quality Assessment ≤0.2 I Very clean 0.2-1.0 II Clean 1.0-2.0 III Moderately contaminated 2.0-4.0 IV Contaminated 4.0-6.0 V Dirty 6.0-10.0 VI Very dirty >10 VII Extremely dirty CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION OF SITES Radiation-contaminated sites are categorized according to mandatory com- pliance with existing legislative and regulatory-methodological documents.14 Criteria for evaluating radiation-contaminated sites affected by radionuclides of technogenic origin are found in existing regulations on ensuring radiation safety for humans in these areas. Technogenic radionuclides include those that are arti- ficially created as well as those of natural origin. To determine radionuclide activity in the soil and water at sites subjected to radioactive contamination, studies are conducted and mandatory monitoring of the radiation situation is established. Status assessments are made of the territo- ries around active radiation facilities after determining annual effective exposure 14  Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. 1999. Radiation safety norms RSN-99. Hygiene norms 2.6.1.758-99. 116 pp.   Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. 2000. Basic Sanitary Rules for Ensuring Radiation Safety of Personnel and the Population BSRERS-99: Section 2.6.1 Ionizing radiation and radiation safety. Sanitary rules 2.6.1.799-99. 98 pp.   Sanitary Rules for Radioactive Waste Management SRRWM-2002. Sanitary rules 2.6.6.1168-02.   Federal State Unitary Enterprise—InterSEN. 2002. Hygiene safety requirements and nutritional values of food products: sanitary-epidemiological rules and regulations. Sanitary Rules and Regula- tions 2.3.2.1078-01. 168 pp. 

188 CLEANING UP SITES CONTAMINATED WITH RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS doses to the public resulting from all technogenic sources and calculating the contribution of the contaminated sites in question to this dose. 15 The exposure dose must be calculated in accordance with methodological guidelines established by the Main State Sanitary Physician of the Russian Fed- eration (or the deputy) or by the Main State Sanitary Physician for the various organizations and jurisdictions served by the Russian Federal Medical-Biological Agency. The assessment is made taking into account the goals for the use of the sites subjected to radioactive contamination and the means by which they were irradi- ated. Depending on the effective exposure dose to the public established for the average individual, sites may be categorized as follows: • <10 μSv per year: A negligibly small level of risk, at which radiation sources do not fall under the scope of the Radiation Safety Norms (RSN-99), as they have no significant impact on public health. • 10 μSv per year–0.2 mSv per year: In international and domestic prac- tice, the level of 0.2 mSv per year is recommended as the level below which radiation sources should be exempt from regular monitoring. • 0.2-1 mSv per year: The range of ongoing optimization, with the scope and nature of actions that are determined, taking into account the long-term forces for radiation impacts on the public. • 1-10 mSv per year: Studies are conducted to clarify the radiation situa- tion and select the optimal means of land use based on the principle of scientific evidence and optimization. • >10 mSv per year: A decision is made on rehabilitating contaminated land, including within the bounds of protected sanitary zones and industrial sites. In drawing up the scientific foundations for the categorization criteria, six scenarios for possible site use were considered along with their corresponding means of human exposure: 1. Constant human occupation of the contaminated site and full agricultural use 15  Shandala, N. K., O. A. Kochetkov, and M. N. Savkin. 2004. Rehabilitation criteria for territories contaminated by man-made radionuclides. Proceedings of the Eleventh Congress of the International Radiation Protection Association, May 23-28, 2004, Madrid, Spain.   Ilyin, L. A., N. K. Shandala, and M. N. Savkin. 2004. The place and role of radiation hygiene monitoring in the sociohygienic monitoring system. Hygiene and sanitation 5:9-15.   Shandala, N. K., O. A. Kochetkov, M. N. Savkin, and N. Ya. Novikova. 2004. Radiation hygiene regulation in the problem of returning rehabilitated sites to economic use. Pp. 47-49 in Actual ques- tions of radiation hygiene: A collection of papers from a scientific-practical conference, June 21-25, 2004. St. Petersburg: Russian Federation Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development. 

CATEGORIZING TERRITORIES 189 2. Constant human occupation of the contaminated site and agricultural use for personal gardening only 3. Constant human occupation in an urban-type dwelling with no agricul- tural use 4. Operation of industrial enterprises and offices on the categorized site (temporary human presence at the contaminated areas) 5. Temporary human presence at the contaminated site for recreational purposes (estimated individual presence of 1 month per year on the site) 6. Agricultural use of the site (for crop growing and livestock grazing) In connection with the substantial diversity of dose magnitudes resulting from various routes of exposure, it is impossible to calculate universal allowable levels of surface contamination or specific radionuclide activity in the soil. 16 Therefore, the rules set forth guideline magnitudes for radionuclide content in soil (Bq/m2) at which an effective dose of 1 mSv per year is created, depending on the five scenarios for possible human activity (see Table 23-3). An additional condition that must be met for the sixth scenario is that the food items produced must not exceed certain values for specific radionuclide activity.17 The reference values cited in Table 23-3 may be used as soil-screening indi- cators in categorizing sites. TABLE 23-3  Density of Soil Contamination in Bq/m2 at Effective Dose to the Public of 1 mSv per Year for Various Site Use Scenarios Scenario Number Nuclide 1 2 3 4 5 Co-60 6.46E+04 6.63E+04 1.35E+05 4.56E+05 3.20E+05 Sr-90 2.15E+04 4.31E+04 2.61E+06 7.94E+09 1.41E+05 Cs-137 1.15E+05 1.22E+05 5.26E+05 1.81E+06 2.21E+05 Eu-154 1.32E+05 1.32E+05 2.65E+05 8.97E+05 6.32E+05 Ra-226 6.62E+04 9.47E+04 1.39E+05 8.82E+07 3.54E+07 Th-228 4.30E+05 4.36E+05 4.62E+05 8.45E+06 2.57E+07 Th-230 4.43E+05 4.50E+05 4.81E+05 2.84E+07 6.02E+07 Th-232 3.91E+05 3.97E+05 4.24E+05 1.59E+07 4.01E+07 U-233 7.21E+05 8.28E+05 1.42E+06 9.23E+07 1.87E+08 U-235 7.78E+05 8.93E+05 1.53E+06 1.07E+08 2.10E+08 U-238 8.43E+05 9.68E+05 1.66E+06 1.17E+08 2.29E+08 Pu-239 1.87E+04 1.87E+04 4.12E+05 7.94E+06 1.96E+04 Am-241 2.85E+05 2.87E+05 4.71E+05 9.45E+06 8.10E+05 16  Levels of external exposure (due to radionuclides contained in various types of soils) and internal irradiation due to ingestion of radionuclides with locally produced food products, when the soil–food product transfer coefficients may vary by more than an order of magnitude depending on soil type. 17  Federal State Unitary Enterprise—InterSEN. 2002. Hygiene safety requirements and nutritional values of food products: Sanitary-epidemiological rules and regulations. Sanitary Rules and Regula- tions 2.3.2.1078-01. 168 pp. 

190 CLEANING UP SITES CONTAMINATED WITH RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS CONCLUSION Based on the results obtained from categorizing radiation-contaminated ar- eas, we may identify promising categories for land use and develop measures to rehabilitate land for particular purposes (agriculture, forestry, water supply, recreation, nature preservation, construction, and conservation). The transfer of industrial lands from one category to another is permitted, provided that there is an approved plan for land rehabilitation.