Automated Radiological Monitoring at a Russian Ministry of Defence Naval Site

Abstract

The Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation (AMEC) Program is a cooperative effort between the military establishments of the Kingdom of Norway, the Russian Federation, and the United States. This paper discusses joint activities conducted over the past year among Norwegian, Russian, and U.S. technical experts on a project to develop, demonstrate and implement automated radiological monitoring at Russian Navy facilities engaged in the dismantlement of nuclear-powered strategic ballistic missile launching submarines.

Radiological monitoring is needed at these facilities to help protect workers engaged in the dismantlement program and the public living within the footprint of routine and accidental radiation exposure areas. By providing remote stand-alone monitoring, the Russian Navy will achieve added protection due to the defense-in-depth strategy afforded by local (at the site), regional (Kola) and national-level (Moscow) oversight. The system being implemented at the Polyarninsky Russian Naval Shipyard was developed from a working model tested at the Russian Institute for Nuclear Safety, Moscow, Russia. It includes Russian manufactured terrestrial and underwater gamma detectors, smart controllers for graded sampling, radio-modems for offsite transmission of the data, and a data fusion/display system. The data fusion/display system is derived from the Norwegian Picasso AMEC Environmental Monitoring software package. This computer package allows monitoring personnel to review the real-time and historical status of monitoring at specific sites and objects and to establish new monitoring protocols as required, for example, in an off-normal accident situation. Plans are being developed to implement the use of this system at most RF Naval sites handling spent nuclear fuel.