The RF Regulators’ View of Nuclear Materials Safety

Abstract

Pursuant to the Federal Law on the Use of Atomic Energy, and on the basis of Executive Order No. 26 of the President of the Russian Federation, dated January 21, 1997, and titled "Federal Executive Agencies Authorized to Perform State Regulation of Safety in the Use of Atomic Energy," the Russian Federation (RF) Gosatomnadzor, together with the Russian Federation Ministry of Health, the Russian Federation Gosgortekhnadzor (State Committee for Oversight of the Safe Conduct of Mining Operations), and the Russian Federation Ministry of Internal Affairs, performs federal regulation of nuclear, radiation, engineering, and fire safety. Apart from mandated regulation of safety and oversight of safety assurance, the principal function of the RF Gosatomnadzor (GAN) is to license activity in the field of the use of atomic energy. If we restrict the field of nuclear-materials safety from the standpoint of the most dangerous types of activity, we should consider the following: Storage of highly enriched uranium in metallic and other forms; Storage of plutonium in metallic and oxide forms; Spent nuclear fuel storage; Conversion of highly enriched uranium to hexafluoride and isotope dilution of it; Purification of weapons-grade plutonium; Plutonium conversion to oxide; Fabrication of nuclear fuel on the basis of uranium with different degrees of enrichment and of plutonium (oxide); Radiochemical processing of irradiated nuclear fuel.