Safety Analysis Report of Maišiagala RWSF

On 31 August this year State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate (VATESI) agreed Safety Analysis Report (SAR) of the Maišiagala Radioactive Waste Storage Facility decommissioning project (Maišiagala RWSF).

SAR of the Maišiagala RWSF decommissioning project has been prepared following the provisions of the relevant and valid versions of Law on Nuclear Energy, Law on Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Safety Requirements issued by VATESI and other legal acts regulating the decommissioning of nuclear facilities.

The previously developed Environmental Impact Assessment of the Maišiagala RWSF decommissioning showed that the Maišiagala RWSF decommissioning would not have significant effects on the environment or on the health of the population. The removal of the radiological dangerous facility will improve the current situation as there will no longer be the potential source of radiological contamination.

Based on the assessments of the SAR, it has been stated that the determined safety criteria and conditions for the Maišiagala RWSF decommissioning and the transportation of radioactive waste to the Ignalina NPP will be met, therefore the planned activities are acceptable in terms of safety. SAR is one of the main documents on the basis of which the license will be issued for the Maišiagala RWSF decommissioning.

We would like to remind that the Maišiagala RWSF is located in Bartkuškis Forest, Širvintos District, about 7 km to north-west of the Maišiagala town and 40 km in the same direction from Vilnius. The spent sealed sources of ionizing radiation and radioactive waste from industrial enterprises, health care institutions, scientific institutions and military units were placed unsorted into the Maišiagala RWSF during the period 1963 to 1989. During the mentioned period, the approximate amount of 114 m3 of radioactive waste from small producers was disposed in the storage facility. In the year 1989 the storage facility was closed and preserved.

The purpose of the Maišiagala RWSF decommissioning is to remove all radioactive waste, as well as construction structures and soil contaminated by radionuclides from the territory of Maišiagala RWSF to the Ignalina NPP main site, and to landscape the site and remove the radiation safety control. The project is financed by the Cohesion Fund of the European Union Structural Funds.