DECOMMISSIONING AND REPLACEMENT OF RTGS WITH ALTERNATIVE ELECTRIC POWER SOURCES ON THE PACIFIC COAST OF RUSSIA

Over the course of the last several years, the United States Department of Energy and the Russian Federation Navy (through the Kurchatov Institute) have been working together to develop a project to replace, remove, and secure RTGs (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators). Experiences accumulated during the implementation of Pilot Projects in 2004–2005, where alternative power sources were evaluated, led to the development of an approach to address the overall RTG situation. The Russian-American team has begun accomplishing the task of replacing and removing RTGs from the Pacific coast and islands of Russia. In the Far East region of Russia there are more than 100 RTGs powering navigation beacons belonging to the Hydrographic Service of the Russian Navy. The area of activities covers climactically diverse geographical regions, extending from Vladivostok in the south to Kamchatka, and further north almost to the Bearing Strait. This also includes RTGs in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. To collect and temporarily store the RTGs, the US-Russian team decided to construct a storage facility at pre-existing coastal technical bases, owned by RosAtom, located in the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski and Vladivostok regions. Efforts to develop the bases and ensure the training and security capabilities of the staff and site are under way. The Russian-American team believes that these preliminary “infrastructure” efforts will allow us to perform a more rapid pace of work during the summer navigation period of 2006, and, as a result, reduce the radiological threat posed by the RTGs operating at navigation beacons. Lessons learned during implementation of the pilot projects has made it possible for us to define a reasonable approach to the replacement of RTGs with alternative power sources (low cost solar power systems made in Russia). The team has also gained experience regarding the installation of radio or satellite alarm systems at some of the RTGs that cannot be replaced immediately. When planning this work, the Russian-American team gave special attention to cost minimization, radiation safety, and radiological threat reduction.