IAEA Perspective and Lessons Learned in Shipping HEU Spent Fuel to Russia

1. IAEA Perspective and Lessons Learned in Shipping HEU Spent Fuel to Russia Institute of Nuclear Materials Management 48th Annual Meeting July 8 - 12, 2007 Tucson, AZ USA IAEA Techsnabexport Savannah River Site Institute of Nuclear Physics Vienna, Austria Moscow, Russia Aiken, South Carolina, USA Tashkent, Uzbekistan Pablo Adelfang Alexey Lebedev Jay Thomas Bekhzod Yuldashev Ira Goldman Ed Bradley

2. Overview • Background • Uzbekistan Lessons Learned • Cask Licensing • European Union Requirements • Procurement of SKODA casks

3. Background • 1999 – US, Russian Federation (RF) and IAEA launch of RRRFR • Objective – assist countries to return HEU fuel to the RF • Implemented at the IAEA through Technical Cooperation (TC) projects • Facilitated the return of 433 Kg of fresh HEU from nine states • Completed first shipment of spent HEU fuel (63 Kg) from Uzbekistan in April 2006.

4. Background Uzbekistan Spent Fuel Shipment 2006

5. Background • October 2006 - RRRFR Lessons Learned Workshop • Provide technical and administrative information on preparations for shipping irradiated Russian research reactor fuel; including the sharing experiences with Uzbek spent fuel shipments, • Finalize the outline and provide substantive documentation for preparation of an IAEA guideline document, and • Determine actions to be taken by the IAEA to facilitate future shipments

6. Background • October 2006 - RRRFR Lessons Learned Workshop (cont’d) • Regulatory and research representatives from 15 countries • More than 20 lectures, spanning three days • Covering legal requirements, contracts, facility preparations, transit issues, and transportation

7. Uzbekistan – Lessons Learned Integrated Schedule

8. Government to Government Agreement • Submitted to the RF Government by Rosatom together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the RF upon their agreement • State Ecological Expertise Review (Rostechnadzor) • Approved by the RF Government or the Head of Rosatom

9. Government to Government Agreement • Scope of the agreement including disposition of the HLW; • Competent bodies authorized to perform regulation, surveillance and solve disputes; • Competent bodies authorized to perform regulation and surveillance for nuclear and radiation safety; • Competent bodies authorized to perform physical protection of special goods; • Competent bodies authorized to perform the transportation; • Transport operations on the territories of the transit countries; • Order of the shipment of special goods; • Order of the provision of physical protection of special goods; • Order and conditions of the transfer of responsibility for fissile materials; • Define responsibility for nuclear damage caused by nuclear incident; • Procedure for information exchange.

10. Unified Project • A Unified Project is required under RF law. • Overall assessment of the radiological, economical, social, and environmental impacts to the RF, particularly the areas surrounding the Mayak Plant, by the State Ecological Commission of Experts • Special Ecological Programs • Foreign Trade contract • Overall risk reduction documents • Public information documents

11. Cask Licensing • Licenses issued for TUK-19 and SKODA casks • Transportation licenses are shipment specific • Must also consider requirements of transit countries

12. European Union Requirements • Workshop on “International Legal Framework Applicable for Shipment of Russian-Origin Research Reactor Spent Fuel to the Russian Federation” Poiana Brasov, Romania 24-26 April 2007 • EU represented by four officials from the European Commission and the EURATOM Supply Agency • Comprehensive presentations provided clear information regarding the EU legal and administrative obligations for EU Member States participating in the RRRFR program

13. SKODA Casks • Contract signed in December 2005 following an international tender • IAEA purchased 10 VPVR/M casks • Contract included extensive fabrication, inspection, and testing provisions; licensing and quality requirements • Casks Available to support ongoing RRRFR shipments

14. SKODA Casks • Basic Parameters of the SKODA VPVR/M cask as listed in the approved Russian Federation License [3]: • Capacity, SFA (canisters), pieces 36 • Unit mass, kg, not more than • Empty 10 700 • Filled (without shock absorbers) 11 150 • Filled (with shock absorbers) 12 390 • Mass of all SFA in a cask (considering the mass of sealed canisters), kg, not more than 450 • Basic outer dimensions of unit (cask), mm, not more than: • Outer diameter of cask body 1 200 • Cask height without shock absorbers 1 505 • Cask height with shock absorbers 2 155 • Outer cask diameter of cask body with shock absorbers 1 500 • Thickness of cylindrical wall of cask body 300 • Medium inside the cask helium • Maximal normal working pressure, Mpa 0.07

15. SKODA Casks

16. Summary • Since early 2006, the IAEA, in cooperation with the EU, the RF, the USA, and a number of individual Member States, has provided overall programmatic and technical support to the RRRFR effort through the examination of “lessons learned” from the Uzbek spent fuel shipments. • Information disseminated to participating Member States through an IAEA Guideline • 10 high capacity, dual purpose casks procured to support RRRFR shipments.

17. Thank You For your attention p.adelfang@iaea.org i.goldman@iaea.org e.bradley@iaea.org