Radiation Safety Department
Head of Department:
Igor PLESCHANKOV
E-mail: lab61orb@sosny.bas-net.by
Tel .: +375 (17) 374-13-86
Fax: +375 (17) 374-83-35
History:
The radiation safety department of the institute dates back to the establishment of the Institute of Nuclear Energy of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR – from the radiation safety service at the IRT-2000 research nuclear reactor. It was established in its current form in 2002. Throughout their history, ORB employees have been directly involved in ensuring radiation safety during the operation of the institute’s facilities and in work with ionizing radiation sources. They took part in the work of the IRT research nuclear reactor, bench building, radiochemistry laboratory with “hot chambers and boxes”, and the Pamir-630D mobile nuclear power plant. From the first days of the Chernobyl accident, ORB employees took part in efforts to eliminate it. In 2010–2012, employees participated in a program for the removal of spent nuclear fuel and the exchange of highly enriched unirradiated nuclear fuel.
The main task of the department
The main task of the department is to monitor compliance with the rules, norms and requirements of radiation safety and the implementation of radiation control during any kind of work with sources of ionizing radiation, nuclear materials and radioactive waste.
Compliance with radiation safety during the operation of the Institute’s facilities and work with III is a priority. To this end, constant monitoring of the radiation situation at individual facilities, in the premises and on the territory of the institute, as well as on the territory of the sanitary protection zone (SPZ) and the surveillance zone (ZN), is carried out.
The state of the radiation situation at the facilities is monitored by:
– individual dosimetric control of personnel;
– air sampling from the working premises of radiation facilities;
– control of gamma and neutron fields;
– control of radioactive contamination of the skin, clothing, shoes, personal protective equipment, work surfaces of equipment and facilities;
– control of emissions and discharges of radioactive substances into the environment;
– environmental sampling on the territory of the institute, SPZ and ZN.
Radiation monitoring is carried out using:
– stationary units, devices, installations and radiation monitoring systems;
– portable and wearable radiation monitoring devices.
The radiation safety department is accredited for compliance with the requirements of STB ISO / IEC 17025-2007 in the National Accreditation System of the Republic of Belarus in October 2013 (accreditation certificate No. BY / 112 02.1.0.1737 of 10.25.2013).
The scope of accreditation includes the following measurements:
– individual equivalent dose of external exposure to personnel;
– the activity and specific activity of the radionuclide Cs-137, incorporated in the human body;
– volumetric (specific) activity of the Cs-137 radionuclide in water (ground, drinking, surface, waste), food products, agricultural raw materials and feed, forest products, medicinal and technical raw materials, peat and products based on peat, soil, soil;
– dose rate of x-ray, gamma and neutron radiation, flux density of alpha, beta particles in the environment.
To ensure high-quality testing, the department uses the following resources:
- qualified personnel competent in the organization and conduct of tests, having the appropriate education, training, technical knowledge and experience;
- measuring instruments and test equipment necessary for testing in accordance with the scope of accreditation;
- organizational structure that provides testing, a clear distribution of responsibility and authority between staff;
- measurement procedures that meet the requirements of legislation on ensuring the uniformity of measurements;
- a complex of production facilities for testing.
RS department personnel are highly qualified and regularly improve it. The head of the department A.A. Mazanik is a member of the National Commission of Belarus on Radiation Protection under the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus.
