NEWSLETTER
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

Sept. 2004

No.13
Issued by
Japan Atomic
Industrial Forum, Inc.

Monday, September 27
The 1st day of the Workshop• Country Report• Roundtable discussion: Evaluation of past activities(Project Review)

The FNCA 2004 Workshop on RWM
to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
at the last week of September 2004
The FNCA 2004 Workshop on radioactive Waste
Management (RWM) is scheduled to be held from
September 27 to October 1, 2004.
The workshop will be hosted by Malaysian Institutefor Nuclear Technology Research (MINT) in cooperation with Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) as the
local host organizations, and the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of
Japan, in cooperation with Japan Atomic Industrial
Forum, Inc. (JAIF)
In the workshop, each representative from FNCA
countries will report on progress status of radioactive
Waste Management including action plan on the safety
and security of Spent Radiation Sources (SRS) andRadioactive Wastes as country reports.
Following the country reports, roundtable discussions and sub-meetings focused on following issues will
be discussed.
• Regulatory aspects including exclusion, exemption,and clearance on NORM/TENORM.

Tuesday, September 28
The 2nd day of the Workshop• Sub-meetings to be open to wider audience• Mini-exhibition/Poster presentations
Wednesday, September 29
The 3rd day of the Workshop• Technical visit to NORM/TENORM related facility• Technical visit to MINT and AELB
Thursday, September 30
The 4th day of the Workshop• Roundtable discussion and/or Sub-meeting
Friday, October 1
The final day of the Workshop• Roundtable discussion on the 3-year work plan
• Closing Session
The Persons taking Charge of the RWM Workshop
from Local Hosting Organizations

NORM;
Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material
TENORM; Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring
Radioactive Material

Dr. Syed Abdul Malik Syed
Zain

• Waste treatment and characterization• Siting activities and safety assessment for disposalof Low and Intermediate Level Waste (LILW)• Disposal of LILW including waste acceptance criteria

FNCA RWM Project Leader of Malaysia
Manager, Radioactive Waste
Management Centre
Technical Services Division
Malaysian Institute for Nuclear
Technology Research (MINT)

2004’s activity on TENORM Task Group will bereported to the participants for further discussion. And
evaluation of past activity in FNCA RWM Project will be
done. The 3-year work plan for 2005-2007 will be discussed, too.

Mr. Nik Marzukee Nik
IbrahimRadioactive Waste Management
CentreTechnical Services Division,
MINT

Tentative Schedule of the RWM Workshop

Mr. Mohd Yasin bin Sudin
Director of Enforcement Division
Atomic Energy Licensing Board(AELB)
Ministry of Science, Technology& The Environment

Sunday, September 26
Arrival of overseas participants at Kuala Lumpur City

1

NEWSLETTER RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

requested, in the General Conference held in 2000, to
discuss the establishment of the level for radioactive
concentrations for the smooth international trade ofcommodities by some countries whose territories were
contaminated by the Chernobyl accident, the Radiation
Safety Standard Committee (RASSC) and the Waste
Safety Standards Committee (WASSC) began to discuss this issue. From the results of discussions over a
period of more than 3 years, a Draft Safety Guide(DS161), entitled “Application of the Concepts of
Exclusion, Exemption and Clearance” was approvedby the Committees in March 2004. The exclusion levels for radionuclides of natural origin and the exemption levels for radionuclides of artificial origin in bulk
amount were provided in the document. The exemption level given in Schedule I of the BSS can be applied
only to the exemption of moderate quantities of materials which is considered to be less than 1 ton. The levels for 257 artificial radionuclides were provided whichwere derived with calculation based on dose criteria of
10 µSv/y for normal situation of exposure and 1 mSv/yfor only low probability events. The natural radionuclides were derived using the concept of “exclusion”
prescribed in BSS. The values were selected on thebasis of consideration of the upper end of the worldwide distribution in soil reported in The United Nations
Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation(UNSCEAR). The value for K-40 was selected to be 10
Bq/g and the value for all other nuclides, such as U238 and Th-232, was selected as 1 Bq/g. In relation to
the application of the values provided in the document,
the values were selected for application to the generalregulation of radioactive materials and to the clearance
level and to regulatory control in national and international trade of commodities. These values for radionuclides of artificial and natural origin were referred indraft of a new ICRP recommendation as “exclusionlevel”. This implied that the values would be usedwidely as the lowest values on the scope of regulationin future.

Recent Trend in the Safety Policy for
Radiation Protection and Radioactive
Waste Management in Japan.
Prof. Toshiso Kosako
FNCA RWM Project Leader of Japan
Associate Professor, Engineering
Research Center for Nuclear
Science and Technology,
The University of Tokyo

Dr. Hidenori Yonehara
Team Leader
Radon Research Group
Research Center for Radiation
SafetyNational Institute of Radiological
Sciences (NIRS)The Regulatory System for the management andcontrol of radiation sources in Japan will be considerably changed in 2005. A major revision of “The Law
concerning Prevention of Radiation Hazards due toRadioisotopes, etc.” has already been carried out. The
detailed provisions in governmental and ministerial
ordinances under the law will be prepared by June
2005. The main goal of the revision is to introduce andimplement the exemption level provided in the IAEA
International Basic Safety Standards (BSS). As the
exemption levels for sealed sources will become more
stringent in the new regulation system, various types of
instruments containing a radiation source, such as asmoke detector or a small check radiation source,which are currently not regulated in the current system
will be subject to regulation under the new system. To
avoid confusion and to ensure a smooth transition
among the general users, a new design approval system will be established for the regulation of these typesof sealed radiation sources. In addition to the introduction of the international exemption level, a legal basis
for the land disposal of radioactive waste from facilities
will be prepared in revision of this system. All radioactive waste currently arising from a radiation source
and/or a radioactive material facility under regulation
has been to date kept in temporary waste storage
facilities, awaiting the possible of available future
land disposal.

The clearance level for radioactive waste released
from nuclear facilities under nuclear safety regulation in
Japan had been discussed in committee meetings of
the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) of Japan. The
clearance based on the concept provided in IAEATECDOC-855 was considered and values of clearance
level for different types of nuclear facilities, such as

In the IAEA, a coherent system for the concepts of
exemption, exclusion and clearance has been discussed for a number of years. After the IAEA was2

NEWSLETTER RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

Table 1: Comparison of values for exemption and clearance provided by IAEA, NRC and Japan (Bq/g)
Exclusion
Exemption
Clearance

Exemption

DS161

BSS

TECDOC-855

TECDOC-1000

NRC,
Japan

H-3

100

1,000,000

1,000-10,000

1,000,000

200

C-14

1

10,000100-1,000

10,000

5

K-40

10

100

-

-

-

Mn-54

0.1

10

0.1-1,000

-

1

Co-60

0.1

10

0.1-1

-

0.4

Sr-90

1

100

1-10

-

1

Cs-134

0.1

10

0.1-1

-

0.5

Cs-137

0.1

10

0.1-1

-

1

Eu-152

0.1

10

0.1-1

-

0.4

Eu-154U,Th(Natural)

0.1

10

-

0.4

1

1

0.1-1

1
(Th-232)

NuclideClearance

major types of nuclear reactors including heavy-water
reactor, fast reactor, and facilities for nuclear fuel were
calculated using exposure scenarios and parameterswhich are suitable to specific Japanese conditions.
After the DS161 was approved, NSC started to consider the validity of the clearance level for Japanese
nuclear facilities calculated in NRC in comparison withthe condition of the derivation of values in DS161. The
regulatory bodies would establish following the resultsof the discussion in the NSC, the system of clearanceof waste released from nuclear facilities within one
year. The values for exemption and clearance for major
nuclides provided by IAEA TECDOC and DS161, and
NSC are shown in the Table 1. Because differencesamong these values may cause some confusion
among general public, the values provided in DS161
can be considered to be a unitary standard value forgeneral clearance level as most conservative values.

-

National Uniformity for Radiation
Protection in Australia and the
Implications in regard to NORM
Mr. Lubi Dimitrovski
FNCA RWM Project Leader ofAustralia
Waste Operations & Technology
Development
Nuclear Technology
Australian Nuclear Science &Technology Organisation (ANSTO)

The application of radiological protection regulations
is currently not uniform throughout Australia. There arenine separate jurisdictions (State, Territory andCommonwealth) having responsibility for radiation
safety legislation associated with artificial and naturally
occurring radioactive material (NORM). The lack of uniformity in areas such as licensing, exemption limits anddefinitions (see Table 1), and the fact that some parts ofregulations in individual jurisdictions do not meet current international best practice, creates problems
across jurisdictions.
The development of acceptable and uniform nationalradiation protection legislation became one of the
responsibilities of the Australian Radiation Protection
and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), when it was

The new ICRP recommendation is planned to be
published in 2005. The concepts of exclusion, exemption and clearance which are provided in the frameworkof previous recommendation should be reconsidered
under new framework of radiation protection.

3NEWSLETTER RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

Table 1: Current and Proposed Exemption Levels for Radioactivity in Australia
State or Territory

Exemption Requirements

Current
Queensland (QLD)

BSS exemption levels on individual radionuclides

Western Australia (WA)

Total activity concentration

30 Bq/g

Victoria (VIC)

Total activity concentration

30 Bq/g

Tasmania (TAS)

Total activity concentration

31 Bq/gSouth Australia (SA)

Total activity concentration

35 Bq/g

New South Wales* (NSW)

Total activity concentration

100 Bq/g AND if
**

A1
40
Northern Territory (NT)

＋

A2
400

＋

A3
4000

＋

A4
40,000≧1

Total activity 370 kBq

Proposed
National Directory for Radiation Protection

BSS exemption levels on individual radionuclides* In NSW a radioactive ore is defined as (a) in the case of an ore that contains uranium but not thorium, 0.02 per cent by
weight of uranium; or (b) in the case of an ore that contains thorium but not uranium, 0.05 per cent by weight of thorium; or (c) in the case of an ore that contains both uranium and thorium, a percentage by weight of uranium and thorium such that the expression: [U/0.02 + Th/0.05] ≧1.
** A1-A4 are activities in kBq for different groups of radionuclides in the NSW Regulations.

established as Australia’s national radiation protection
body to administer the ARPANS Act (1998) andRegulations (1999).

ARPANSA has recommended to the Australian Health
Ministers, that edition 1 of the Directory is not applied tothe mining and mineral production sectors until:* a further regulatory impact study has been completed;* a new code for radiation protection in mining andmilling is produced; and* protocols for determining exemption are clarified.

The National Directory for Radiation Protection
The objective of the Directory is “to provide costeffective uniform requirements for protecting people
and the environment against harmful effects of ionizing
and non-ionizing radiation”. After a national competition policy review and a regulatory impact study, 19 recommendations were made and included into 12 national implementation projects. Of these, the eight projects
listed in Table 2 relate to national uniformity and the
Directory.
Australia is a significant world producer of mineralproducts and other commodities from a range of mining
and mining based industries that have already been
identified by IAEA studies as being typically affected by
NORM/TENORM issues [IAEA 2003]. These industries
are aware of the proposed new regulatory guidelines
through workshops and invitations for public submissions, and have had the opportunity to comment on thedraft versions of the Directory to express their concerns
regarding potential increases in regulatory control andcosts. In response to the concerns expressed,

Introduction of the NDRP and Implications Regarding
NORM
In addition to the implications for regulators (a regulatory impact statement has been carried out in thisregard), some of the issues of concern to the mining
industry, who deal or may need to deal with NORM in
the future, include the following:
Industry has been concerned that the Directory willlead to greater scrutiny and greater cost with questionable benefits. The proposed exclusion from edition 1 of
the Directory to allow more consultation and clarification should allay many concerns1. However, increased
costs will arise from the need for more accurate andmore expensive analyses and monitoring/reporting
requirements, should the need for licencing be requiredin some industries.
4NEWSLETTER RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

Table 2: National Implementation Plans for the Development of the Directory
Project

Details

Project Status

Fractionation

Dealing with duplication and discrepan- Report from NUIP(RC) expected incies between radiation protection legisla- March 2004, for consideration in latertion and other industry specific legislation editions of the Directory.
within a jurisdiction (eg, radiation safety,
mining, occupational health & safety).

Regulatory Styles

Consideration of performance-based ver- Consultant’s Report received in earlysus prescriptive approaches.
2004, for consideration in later editions of the Directory.

Third-party
Certification

Developing a nationally consistent Consultant’s report due in early 2004,
approach to third-party certification sys- for consideration in later editions.
tems.

National Uniformity

Implementation of the National Directory.

Will be completed with promulgationof Edition 1.

National Incident
RegisterDeveloping a national system for incident A system for incident reporting isreporting for radiation incidents
included in Edition 1.

Occupational
Licensing

Review of provisions for licensing occu- Several groups are included inpational groups using radiation.
Edition 1 of the Directory and further
work will be undertaken by NUIP(RC)for later editions

Trans-boundary
IssuesExamining overlap between jurisdictions, Edition 1 addresses this matter by
and mutual recognition issues.
establishing competencies and criteria for uniform application. This will
be developed further in later editions

Regional
Communities

Establishing principles to ensure policies Provisions in edition 1 of the Directory
address the needs of rural, remote and address radiology services in rural
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and remote areas.
communities.

Edition 1 of the Directory has adopted:* the exemption radioactivity limits that are more restrictive i.e. lower, than those in most of the current regulations (seeTable 3 for examples); and* the occupational and public dose limits contained in the IAEA Basic Safety Standard, BSS 115 [IAEA 1996].

Table 3: Comparison of Directory Exemption Levels with Current Jurisdictions
and IAEA Exemption Levels (MBq)
Directory

IAEA

ACT **NSW

Thorium
(nat)

0.001

0.001

4

Uranium
(nat)

0.001

0.001

Radium
-226

0.01

0.01

NT

QLD

SA

TAS

VIC

WA

40

Unlisted 0.001

5

*

4

4

4

40

Unlisted 0.001

5

*

4

4

0.004

0.04

0.037

0.01

0.005 0.00004 0.0004 0.0004* The Tasmanian regulations exempt a natural material with concentration less than 31 Bq/g, but do not have an activity
limit on quantity. The limit for Th-232 is 0.25 Bq. The limit for U-238 is 1.4 Bq.
** ACT stands for Australian Capital Territory5NEWSLETTER RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENTThe Directory and associated Codes and standards
may not be interpreted uniformly across Australianjurisdictions. It is in the best interests of industry andRegulators to work closely together to ensure that regulation is implemented in a realistic and practical way
and not be too prescriptive.

indicated elevated radiation level but confined mostly inthe stack ponds and in storage areas for raw ore andfertilizer. Gamma spectral analysis using high purity
germanium detector (HPGe) for specific radionuclides
in PG from stack ponds showed varying levels of 226Ra
and 222Rn activity per pond due primarily to varying concentrations of natural radionuclides in the original raw
phosphate ores.
Baseline studies outside of the facility were conducted to serve as benchmark for radionuclide concentrations in soil and marine samples including seawater,
sediment and biota. Concentrations of gamma radionuclides in marine samples collected in the foreshore of
the industrial plant and in soil samples from various
locations within the town showed activity concentrations comparable to radioactivity level elsewhere in thePhilippines. The results strongly suggest that 226Ra and222
Rn in PG are not released into the environment at
levels that would give rise to radiological hazard to theresidents of the town. The activity of PG in certain
stack ponds are low enough to be used in the reclamation project provided it is remixed with materials of low
radioactivity.
The study assuaged LGU and NGO apprehensions
regarding the release of radioactive materials into theenvironment and its possible health implications if PG
is used in the town reclamation project. Thus, the
PNRI was instrumental in bridging the perceptual andsocio-economic gaps between the LGU and NGO, on
the one hand, and the industry, on the other. Public
acceptance is needed in the continuous operation andeconomic growth of industries using raw materials containing naturally-occurring radionuclides. Hence, collaboration between the LGU and the NGO and theIndustrial Manager in the study is a management strategy which could be used to promote peaceful uses ofnuclear technology including TENORM.

Management Strategy for Public
Acceptance of TENORM Released
into the Environment from a
Phosphate Fertilizer Industrial
Facility in the Philippines
Ms. Teresa Yulo-Nazarea
Program Leader
Career Scientist andHead, Health Physics
Research Section
Philippine Nuclear
Research Institute (PNRI)

Release of technologically-enhanced naturallyoccurring radioactive materials (TENORM) into theenvironment is a growing concern in the Philippines
with increasing industrial use of raw materials containing natural radionuclides. Among this is the productionof phosphate fertilizer from phosphate rocks where its
by-product, phosphogypsum (PG), may contain elevated levels of radionuclides particularly radium-226(226Ra) and radon-222 (222Rn). The Philippine Nuclear
Research Institute (PNRI) embarked on an investigative and management strategy to address specific environmental concern by the local residents in the vicinityof the phosphate fertilizer industrial facility located in an
island in central Philippines. The study involves collaboration between the industrial facility management, thelocal government unit (LGU), a non-governmentalorganization (NGO) and the PNRI with the objective ofassessment of TENORM released in the environment
and the subsequent management and possible utilization of PG in the LGU reclamation project located in theforeshore of the town.
Radiological assessment of the industrial facility andits vicinity provided data on the potential risk associatedwith use of PG to ensure radiation protection of thegeneral public. Gamma radiation dose rate measurements using portable gamma spectrometer (BNC SAM
935) and portable scintillometer (Saphymo_Stel
Scintillometer SPP_2_NF) within the industrial facility

Ambient gamma dose rate measurements by the PNRI team,industrial Manager and NGO using a portable spectrometer and ascintillometer6NEWSLETTER RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

potential flooding of this area during the rainy season.
Thus an important task of ITRRE is the upgrading theinfrastructure of the facility to improve safety of all radwastes.
For this year, ITRRE has started the upgrading byfilling up with soil the area where the tanks are set,such that the ground level is now higher than 2 m. The
temporary vault for untreated radwaste, the radwaste
treatment house, and the new house for treated radwastes were built. The ITRRE is requesting the support
from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST)
of Viet Nam, the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA), and the FNCA to upgrade the current laboratory for radioactive waste treatment, to train key personnel and to carry out researches on radioactive waste
treatment and management.

The Upgrading of Phung Interim
StorageDr. Tran Kim Hung
FNCA RWM Project Leader of Viet Nam
Director
Department of International Relations& Planning
Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission(VAEC)

Dr. Nguyen Ba Tien
Deputy Director
Purification Technology Division
Institute for Technology ofRadioactive and Rare Elements(ITRRE, VAEC)In Viet Nam there is no NPP yet, but in the past
decades, the applications of the nuclear technology inthe field of industry, health service, agriculture, in geological survey, petrol exploitation, and research have
rapidly developed. The management of presently utilized sources, spent and non-spent sources, orphan
sources, radioactive wastes from laboratories, hospitals
and other end-users must consequently be upgradedto meet the requirements of international safety standards.
The Institute for Technology of Radioactive and Rare
Elements (ITRRE) is responsible for the treatment andmanagement of all kinds of radwastes in the Northernpart of Viet Nam. The Phung Interim Storage Facility is
operated by the ITRRE. The Facility is located about
25 km west of Ha Noi. In this facility, there is nearly 130
tons of LLRW that include uranium ores, uranium tailing, waste from monazite processing and other radwastes from research activities from 1981. Starting thisyear, it is expected that ITRRE will manage, yearly,
about 10-30 tons uranium tailing from uranium ores
processing, 2-3 tons of solid waste from a monazite
pilot plant and nearly 5 tons solid radwastes from laboratories.
Last year, in the technical visit of FNCA Task Groupon TENORM Discussion/Survey Meeting in Viet Nam,the Japanese experts noted that some improvementsin the infrastructure of the Facility need to be put inplace. For example, there is need to put up an individual house for radwastes storage. Untreated radwastes
were stored in two concrete tanks. The ground level ofthe tanks was about 2 m below from the surrounding
ground level and this poses some danger due to the

The temporary vault for untreated wastes

The radwaste treatment house

The new storage

7

NEWSLETTER RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

Announcing New Public Solicitationon Siting for the Radioactive Waste
Management Facility in Korea

2. Participation of the public and social groups on
the establishment process of energy policy- In order to activate the participation and discussion on the promotion process of energy policy,“the public and government joint forum forenergy policy” will be organized and operated.

Dr. Myung-Jae SongFNCA RWM Project Leader of Korea
President
Nuclear Environment Technology
Institute (NETEC)
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd.
(KHNP)

R&D Activities for the Radwaste
Management in Korea
Development for the C-14 Sampling and Measurement
Device for PWR
In order to monitor C-14 nuclide in PWR, NETECKHNP devised the constant C-14 sampling instrument
which can collect CO2 and methane type C-14 separately. It is composed of three main components, suchas primary CO2 sampler, a methane oxidization assembly and a secondary CO2 sampler. Two-mole NaOH
bubblers collect all CO2 in the gas to produce sodium
carbonate (Na2CO3). Then, the methane oxidizationassembly converts methane and CO to CO2. The catalyst is composed of equal mixture of Alumina with
Palladium to convert methane and CO into CO2.
Retaining time of the gas in catalytic is designed to beabout 25 seconds to maximize conversion.
Four sampling instruments were installed in
Yonggwang unit 4 on Jan. 2003 to collect the C-14
sample. These sampling instruments will be operated 2
years to produce several kinds of C-14 data. The annual activity is 0.03TBq/GWe, which would be small
amount compared to the world’s PWR average of
0.22TBq/GWe (UNSCEAR 2000). Based on the result,the environmental effects of C-14 at PWR will be evaluated and will provide us an optimal C-14 monitoring
method.

On February 4, 2004, the Korean government
announced a new public solicitation process on siting
for the radioactive waste management facility. The government acknowledged the lack of convergence for the
resident opinion while selecting Wie-do as a candidate
site in 2003. Accordingly, “the resident’s self-governing
principle” what the resident vote is mandatory is added
to the new solicitation process. According to the newprocess, petition of attraction is open to all the otherlocal communities. The resident vote should be carriedout before petition by “the resident vote law” promulgated recently.

•
•
•
•
•

New Public Solicitation Process and Itinerary
Petition of attraction by residents (by May 31)
Convergence of resident’s opinion &preliminary application(by Sept. 15)
Resident vote & Final application(by Nov. 30)
Evaluation by site selection committee
Selection of candidate site(by Dec. 31)

All the processes and activities will be guaranteedand embodied to assure the open solicitation process
as follows:
1. Guarantee of open information for site selection
plan and facility’s safety- From site investigation to construction and operation, direct participation of residents will belegislated.
- The site to be selected by the current process
does not include the spent fuel reprocessing
facility and the permanent repository for highlevel radioactive waste.
- In order to promote a better understanding
about radioactive waste management, “Safety
Assurance Group” will be organized and operated.

C-14 Sampling Instrument installed in Yonggwang Unit 48NEWSLETTER RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

Commercial Vitrification Facility Project Started
In December 2003, NETEC-KHNP officially started
the construction project of a commercial vitrification
facility at Ulchin nuclear power site. Hyundai MOBIS
was awarded the project contract to provide the engineering services, equipment procurement as well as
the installation of a commercial vitrification facility. The
vitrification facility is scheduled to be installed andbegin commercial operation in 2007. The technology
has various advantages over the conventional radioactive waste treatment methods, such as remarkable volume reduction and the enhancement of disposal safety.
In 1994, NETEC launched a research and development program for vitrification technology in order totreat the low-level radioactive wastes from nuclear
power plants. Since then, vitrification process has beendeveloped jointly by NETEC, SGN of France andHyundai MOBIS. Its performance has been successful-ly demonstrated through a number of pilot tests which
finally led to the accumulation of various data and information for the design and engineering of the commercial vitrification facility.
Development of SITES for Radioactive Waste Disposal
Facility
A radioactive waste disposal management facility
produces a lot of environmental and site specific information. It also produces the safety assessment data
which are required for the licensing documents to theregulatory agency. For the purpose of effective management of those data, the program of the “Sites
Information and Total Environmental data management
System(SITES)” has been developed in Korea. Thesepiles of data have to be managed institutionally for theeffective application. Particularly, the disposal site will
be monitored for a long period of time even after its closure.
The SITES is composed of the three modules suchas Overview, Sites Database Modules (SDM) andMonitoring & Assessment (M&A). The SDM is composed of four sub-modules such as Site Information
Management System (SIMS), Environmental
Information System (ENVIS), Radioactive
ENVironmental Information System (RENVIS) andEngineering Barrier Test Facility system (EBTF). The
Monitoring and Assessment modules will be developedin the near future.

Project kick-off meeting on January 8, 2004

Schematic diagram of the SITES

9NEWSLETTER RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENTDismantling and Conditioning ofRadium-226 in Thailand

The approach comprised the encapsulation of spentradium sources in a stainless-steel capsule, capsule-lid
welding, leakage test, following by placing the radium
capsules in a special designed lead container (Figure4), welding the lead-lid, putting the lead container in
200 L concrete-lined steel drum and locking the container inside the drum with the coded-steel bar. For thesafe interim storage, the drums were then closed bytheir lids with the appropriate security seal.
From 17 - 28 May 2004, the second radium conditioning was operated by the support of International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under the national workplan for managing radioactive waste in Thailand :INT/4/131 together with the cooperation of the experts
from Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute(KAERI). As the conditioning results, the 477 pieces of1923.75 mg (71.18 GBq) of radium sources were conditioned in 6 packages (200 L concrete-lined steel
drums), coded, radiation dose rate measured and safely stored at OAP interim storage. The Ra-226 conditioned drums and the conditioning operation team wereshown in Figure 5 and 6.

Ms. Monta
Punnachaiya
Senior Nuclear Chemist
Radioactive Waste Management
Program (RWMP)
Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP)

The sealed radium-226 source was primary used formore than 40 years in the country, in medicine as in theform of needles - tubes for brachytherapy and applicators for external betatherapy. In industrial, research andeducational utilizations, Ra-226 sources were used ascoal level gauges, lightning preventors and calibration
sources, which all these sources were needed to be
dismantled. The dismantling of Ra-226 coal level
gauge using an electrical blade for cutting the weld of
lead container, automatic sawing the source stem
behind shielding and the sources after dismantlingwere shown in Figure 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
The strategy of safe management of spent radiumsources was the optimization of conditioning technique.

Figure 1: Weld Cutting

Figure 2 : Automatic Sawing

Figure 3 : Ra-226 after Cutting

Figure 4 : Placing Ra-226 Capsule

Figure 5 : Ra-226 Conditioned Drums

Figure 6 : Operation Team10

NEWSLETTER RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENTRWMS-BATAN is now developing a security system
for the new interim storage building (that has been inaugurated by the Chairman of BATAN on August 19,
2004) where many spent radiation sources coming from
hospitals and industries will be stored. The system
includes the development of administrative and technical measures. This system is an integrated concept ofsafety and security involving safety arrangements, radiation protection measures and appropriate design toachieve the necessary level of protection against unauthorized acquisition of spent radioactive sources.
A part of the development of the security system,
now is under consideration, is the upgrade of technicalmeasures (pose a physical barrier to the radioactive
source, device or facility in order to separate it fromunauthorized personnel and to deter, or to prevent, inadvertent or unauthorized access to, or removal of, aspent radioactive source). Two factors now is underevaluation:
1. Control to Access Gate
The main access gate (there would be only one gate
open at anytime) has to be guarded 24 hours. With a
special procedure, only authorized personnel areallowed to enter the facility inside the fence.
2. Control and Monitor Device Installation
In order to have control the area unattended there
shall be control devices installed. The output can thenbe displayed in closed circuit.

Security System Upgrade for The
New Interim Storage Building
Dr. Djarot S. Wisnubroto
Head for Radwaste Treatment division
Radioactive Waste Management
CenterNational Nuclear Energy Agency(BATAN)

Based on the vulnerability assessment report of
BATAN, the following is one the threatened situations
around Radioactive Waste Management Center(RWMS):
Theft of radioactive sources stored as wastes in theinterim storages which may result in direct threat in theform radiological dispersion affecting the general publichealth or in indirect threat in the form of political and/or
financial blackmail to the authority which in turn will
make the authority lost its credibility.
In attempting to address the threats from malevolent
acts involving spent radioactive sources, there are several components that must be considered:- Management of sources only within an authorized,
regulated, legal framework.
- Prevention of acquisition of spent radioactive
sources by those with malevolent intent.
- Detection of actual theft or loss in order to appropriately respond and allow recovery efforts to start
as soon as possible.

The new interim storage building.

11NEWSLETTER RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

Vision Statement;“The FNCA is to be recognized as an effective
mechanisms for enhancing socio-economic development through active regional partnership in the peacefuland safe utilization of nuclear technology”.

The 5th FNCA Meeting to be heldin Ha Noi, Viet Nam
The fifth Ministerial Level Meeting (MM) of the Forumfor Nuclear Cooperation in Asia (FNCA) will be held on
December 1, 2004 in Ha Noi, Viet Nam, co-sponsoredby the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of
Viet Nam, and Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) of
Japan.
The Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) is also scheduled to be held on November 30, 2004 in conjunction
with MM.
The delegates of FNCA countries will make presentation of their country report on nuclear energy researchand development policy and the nuclear energy activities. Basic theme of the 5th FNCA Meeting is“Cooperation for Nuclear Human Resources
Development in Asia”, and roundtable discussions areplanned.

The
The FNCA
FNCA Framework
Framework
Role of the Meeting

FNCA Meeting

Coordinationof the Projects

about importantmatters of the
FNCA… ● Review andadjustment for
Ministrial Level
Meeting

Senior Officials Meeting

Direction●Review and… ● Final decision

Ministerial Level Meeting

AUL,CPR, INS,
JPN, ROK, MAL,
PHI, THA, and VIE

Reporting

Coordinators Meeting
One Coordinator in EachCountry

Review and
Coordination

Reporting

Reporting

Reporting
Panel on “Roleof Nuclear
Energy for
Sustainable
Developmentin Asia”

Project Leaders

What is the Forum for Nuclear Cooperationin Asia (FNCA)?

Research Reactor Utilization

Public Information

Tc-99m Generator
Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA)

Radioactive Waste Management

Application for Agriculture

Nuclear Safety Culture●●

Member Countries;
Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia
The Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam* IAEA as an observer
Framework;
The following are the basic outline of cooperation.
1. Ministerial Level Meeting (MM)Ministerial level representatives responsible fornuclear research, development and utilization attend to
discuss nuclear policy or cooperative measures. Senior
Officials Meeting (SOM) is attached to MM as an assistant organization.
2. Coordinators Meeting
One FNCA Coordinator was appointed for eachcountry, and these Coordinators discuss introduction,
modification, abolishment, coordination, evaluation, andso on, of cooperative projects.
3. Cooperative Activities for Each Project.

●●

Mutation Breeding
Biofertilizer

Human Resources Development

Application for Medical Care●●

Radiation Oncology
PET, Cyclotron and Radioisotopes
in Medicine

Industial Application●

Low-Energy Electron Accelerator

Record of Past RWM Workshops
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)

1995 RWM Seminar
1996 RWM Seminar
1997 RWM Seminar
1998 RWM Workshop
1999 RWM Workshop
2000 RWM Workshop
2001 RWM Workshop
2002 RWM Workshop
2003 RWM Workshop
2004 RWM Workshop
2005 RWM Workshop

Japan (Tokyo)
Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)
China (Beijing)
Thailand (Bangkok)
The Philippines (Manila)
Australia (Sydney)
Viet Nam (Da Lat)
Korea (Daejeon)
Indonesia (Jakarta)
Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)(to be decided in 2004 workshop)

Participants: 293 Persons (cumulatively up to 2003)

ASIA COOPERATION CENTER
JAPAN ATOMIC INDUSTRIAL FORUM, INC.
1-2-13 SHIBA-DAIMON, MINATO-KU, TOKYO 105-8605 JAPAN
PHONE : +81-3-5777-0753
FAX: +81-3-5777-0757

http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/
http://www.fnca.or.jp/english/

This Newsletter is issued by the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, Inc. (JAIF) under thecontract of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).

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