Radiation Safety Department
PLESHCHANKOV Igor Gennadievich
E-mail: lab61orb@sosny.bas-net.by.
Tel.: +375 (17) 374-13-86
Fax: +375 (17) 374-83-35
History of creation:
The Department of Radiation Safety of the Institute dates back to the formation of the Institute of Nuclear Power Engineering of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR – from the radiation safety service at the IRT-2000 research nuclear reactor. In its current form, it was formed in 2002. Throughout its history, ORB employees have been directly involved in ensuring radiation safety during the operation of the institute’s facilities and work with sources of ionizing radiation. They participated in the work of the IRT research nuclear reactor, the test facility, the radiochemical laboratory with “hot cells and boxes”, and the Pamir-630D mobile nuclear power plant. From the first days of the Chernobyl accident, ORB employees took part in the work to eliminate it. In 2010–2012, the staff participated in the program for the removal of spent nuclear fuel and the exchange of highly enriched unirradiated nuclear fuel.
Main areas of activity:
The main task of the department is to monitor compliance with the rules, standards and requirements of radiation safety and to carry out radiation monitoring during any type 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 IRS is a priority. For this purpose, the radiation situation is constantly monitored at individual installations, in the premises and on the territory of the institute, as well as on the territory of the sanitary protection zone (SPZ) and the observation zone (ZN).
The state of the radiation situation at the facilities is monitored by:
– individual dosimetric monitoring of personnel;
– sampling of air from the working premises of radiation facilities;
– monitoring of gamma and neutron fields;
– monitoring of contamination with radioactive substances of the skin, special clothing, footwear, personal protective equipment of personnel, working surfaces of equipment and premises;
– monitoring of emissions and discharges of radioactive substances into the environment;
– sampling of the environment 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 devices radiation control.
The Radiation Safety Department was 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 dated 10.25.2013).
The scope of accreditation includes the following measurements:
– individual equivalent dose of external irradiation of personnel;
– activity and specific activity of the radionuclide Cs-137 incorporated in the human body;
– volumetric (specific) activity of the radionuclide Cs-137 in water (ground, drinking, surface, wastewater), food products, agricultural raw materials and feed, forestry products, medicinal and technical raw materials, peat and peat-based products, soil, ground;
– dose rate of X-ray, gamma and neutron radiation, flux density of alpha and beta particles in the environment.
The following resources are used in the department to ensure high-quality testing:
• qualified personnel competent in the organization and conduct of tests, with the appropriate education, professional training, technical knowledge and experience;
• measuring instruments and testing equipment required to conduct tests in accordance with the scope of accreditation;
• organizational structure that ensures testing, clear distribution of responsibilities and powers between personnel;
• measurement methods that meet the requirements of legislation on ensuring the uniformity of measurements;
• a complex of production facilities for testing.
