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Mailing address: Phone: 7 (3912) 321251 Fax: 7 (3912) 320374
The technical decisions to locate the nuclear production facility inside the rock have been unique in the national and international nuclear power engineering practice. The MCA has accumulated a lot of experience on operation of underground nuclear facilities and performed a lot of research on evaluating the nuclear production environmental impact. The MCA unique experience can be used for designing underground NPPs.
The major flow sheet of the radiochemical plant includes the metal uranium dissolution in nitric acid, multi-stage extraction to separate uranium and plutonium, their decontamination from radioactive fission products and plutonium concentrate sorption. The final products of reprocessing the fuel elements are solid uranium salt (uranyl nitrate) and a plutonium chemical compound. The flow sheet is complicated by a very small plutonium concentration in uranium (less than 1 wt. %) and a high radioactivity of the solution. Therefore, all the equipment and pipes for the solution transport are made from stainless steel and placed into the concrete vaults lined with stainless steel. There is no access to the reprocessing equipment during operation. If maintenance is required, the equipment is thoroughly decontaminated prior to handling.
Some operations, such as temperature maintenance, solution flow rate maintenance are automated. Nuclear safety (prevention of spontaneous chain nuclear reaction) is provided by state-of-the-art instrumentation and control systems. The liquid radioactive waste resulting from irradiated uranium reprocessing is stored in stainless steel storage tanks. The medium- and low-level waste is transported to Severny storage site for deep-well injection into geological formations. Gaseous and aerosol emissions go through off-gas system for decontamination. The gaseous emissions of the plant have 10 – 100 times lower radioactive levels than the required regulatory standards for every radioactive element. All the maintenance activities are performed by the maintenance workers of the plant. There are special maintenance shops at the plant for processing and power equipment, as well as for control instrumentation.
The RT-2 Plant flow sheet includes the extraction process for plutonium and uranium separation. The liquid radioactive waste resulting from the spent fuel reprocessing will be partitioned and vitrified or solidified into mineral-like matrices. The waste management concepts used in the RT-2 Plant design will significantly reduce the waste volume and provide its safe storage. The RT-2 Plant will have a state-of the art monitoring system for detection of radioactive and hazardous contamination. The monitoring system will imply stationary and mibile observation stations. The first facility of the plant is spent nuclear fuel storage that was commissioned in 1985. The storage facility can receive and store 6,000 tons of spent fuel. Currently, spent nuclear fuel from Russian and Ukranian nuclear power plants is stored there. The spent fuel is stored in the water, over 2.5 meters deep, thereby excluding any radiation exposure. Nuclear and radiation safety assurance is provided by a special design and materials of the equipment and water pools, monitoring and alarm systems. Spent fuel will be transported from the storage to other facilities for reprocessing.
Deep-well injection of liquid radioactive waste is performed at Severny storage site where contaminant transport is excluded by natural conditions. The Severny storage site has been used for deep-well injection of low-level waste since 1962 and for medium-level waste since 1967. Deep-well injection is monitored by special instrumentation that evaluates the geological and environmental conditions there.
CPL activities are as follows:
Nuclear and radiation safety is provided by advanced processes, reliable equipment and highly qualified specialists. The radiation hazardous equipment is heavily shielded and continuous radiation monitoring is provided at the site. There are multiple back-up systems for power supply, reactor control and radiochemical processes. The advanced off-gas systems minimize hazardous and radioactive emissions into the environment.
The environmental monitoring lab performs the following:
The MCA is involved in various defense conversion programs that represent significant R&D efforts. For example, its project on silicon semiconductors has a national significance. The plan has been adopted to start production of polycrystal and monocrystal silicon and silicon wafers for microelectronic needs and development of solar batteries. Thermal electric modules and ultra pure materials, e.g gallium, tellurium, etc., are produced at MCA. The process developed by Krasnoyarsk Research Institute of Physics and Engineering makes it possible to bond heterogenous metals by explosion. The MCA produces electronic parts, alarm systems, data processing systems, as well as colored TV assemblies licensed by Samsung. The MCA developed a process and documentation for producing solid radon complexes.
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The decision to build the Mining Chemical Association (MCA) was made
in 1950. The MCA site was planned to be located inside the mountain, 60
kilometers from the city of Krasnoyarsk down the Enisey river. The design
of the production facilities and residential buildings was made by
Lengiprostroy Institute in Leningrad (currently called VNIPIET). The
MCA was designed and built for producing weapons grade plutonium in
the production-scale reactors and its separation at the radiochemical plants.
The reactor and radiochemical facilities, as well as nuclear power plant,
water supply and ventilation systems are located inside the mountain.
The radiochemical plant was commissioned in 1964. It had been intended for plutonium
separation from irradiated natural uranium.
The operation control is provided remotely from the control panels where the
control systems and instrumentation are located. The readings of the
instrumentation are detected every minute and stored during 30 days, thereby
providing data on the operational status of the reprocessing equipment.
The RT-2 Plant has been designed for receiving, storage and further reprocessing of
spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants. The designed capacity of the plant is 1,500
tons of spent fuel per year, which means spent fuel reprocessing from the NPP of total
50 –80 million kilowatts. The RT-2 Plant will produce MOX-fuel elements and
recovered uranium.
The Central Plant Laboratory (CPL) was created in 1966 to do research
for the MCA needs. The CPL has state-of-the art equipment and
instrumentation that provides reliable operational monitoring and quality
control of the materials. The performance of the research equipment and
instrumentation meet all available international standards.
In 1957, a special office, dose control office was opened at MCA to monitor the
environmental situation in the MCA area. Afterwards, the dose control office grew into
the Radioecological Center that includes environmental monitoring lab.