Where the word "nuclear" is present, everything is regulated as much as possible by laws, instructions, rules and requirements. And this is great news, because the word "nuclear" should always be accompanied by the concept of "security." Law and order - this is the most suitable slogan for the nuclear industry.
Definitions, Clarifications and Differences
Nuclear materials either contain fissile nuclear substances, or can reproduce them.
Among all fissile substances, there are only two that have practical application. This is uranium-235 (it is called weapons-grade uranium) and its synthetic " weapon counterpart " plutonium-239 (it is also weapons-grade). Uranium-235 is mined in uranium mines, it is a natural element. Plutonium-239, by contrast, is artificially created using chemical analysis.
Uranium is characterized by the controllability of the chain reaction, as a result of which it is the main nuclear material for nuclear energy (“peaceful atom”). But plutonium can hardly be called peaceful, because it was created for one purpose - use in nuclear weapons.
In the block of "nuclear" legislation, nuclear materials are often referred to along with radioactive materials. Therefore, we clarify: radioactive materials differ from nuclear ones. These are substances that emit only ionizing radiation, atom splitting does not occur in them. If we consider all this from the point of view of human health, then substances related to radioactive substances can cause harm to health, but they do not release the energy of fission.
Main atomic law
Key requirements for nuclear and radioactive materials are set forth in the Russian federal law On the Use of Atomic Energy. It regulates issues in all types of nuclear activities. Particular attention is paid to the problems of storage, accounting and control of nuclear materials. This is a critical security issue.
The requirements in the law relate to facilities for the use and storage of nuclear materials. There are many such objects; they are divided into functional groups:
- Nuclear facilities are facilities incorporating nuclear reactors. These include nuclear power plants and floating vessels, space rockets and other very diverse complexes with reactors for research, experiments, industrial tasks, etc.
- Radiation sources - objects containing radioactive materials with ionizing radiation.
- Storage facilities for nuclear materials - storage facilities for nuclear and radioactive substances, including radioactive waste.
- A special kind of objects in the form of assemblies with spent nuclear fuel, irradiated in a nuclear reactor and extracted from it.
Radioactive waste storage
Who needs nuclear and radioactive substances that are subsequently unsuitable for use? This is one of the most difficult integrated issues of modern ecology with a high share of commercial and political considerations. The best minds in the nuclear industry are working on it.
Radioactive waste is produced at all facilities and at every stage of work in the nuclear industry. They contain plutonium, cesium, California and other elements that will remain hazardous to health for hundreds of years. This “gift” to future generations will oblige the latter to control the storage of radioactive waste, so that they do not fall into the external environment or into the hands of terrorists. It is believed that the best way to store waste is underground mines. But this is a very expensive pleasure with unpredictable risks and an uncertain future.
Public policy
State policy in the nuclear industry is an integrated solution to the problems of rationing and standardization of everything related to nuclear materials. These are the norms for their receipt, registration, use, physical protection, storage, transportation, etc.
One of the effective methods of controlling any activity is state licensing. This fully applies to the nuclear industry. Licenses are issued in the following activities:
- Construction, operation and completion of facilities for the use and storage of nuclear materials.
- Uranium ore mining with preliminary exploration.
- Scientific, research and design work using nuclear and radioactive substances.
- Design of nuclear facilities, including storage facilities.
- Production of equipment for the nuclear industry and nuclear production.
Now about the property rights to nuclear reactors and materials. Here the settings are the toughest. A special list of nuclear materials, which should be exclusively federal property, is endorsed by the President of the Russian Federation. There is another list with a presidential signature below - a list of legal entities that may have the right to "nuclear" property.
Accounting and control
Only federal or departmental state control and accounting of nuclear materials, without options, everything is tough here. This most important activity consists in constant and rigorous reporting to authorities with a mandate to manage nuclear energy and state security.
Reports are conducted on the exact amount of nuclear materials available, their location, movement, export and import. This approach is quite appropriate: it is about protection against losses, theft and unauthorized use of radioactive elements.
Transportation
There are special requirements for the movement and transportation of nuclear materials. They are consistent with the regulations for the transport of especially dangerous goods. Any carrier of radioactive substances can only work with special permission. It is the responsibility of transport companies involved in the transport of nuclear substances to take particularly careful steps to minimize the risks of any traffic accidents and to eliminate their consequences. The protection of the population and the environment is a separate and special duty of all those involved in transportation in the nuclear industry.
Physical protection
Physical protection of nuclear material is a special concept in several areas of human activity. These are state security, preservation of the ecological environment and protection of human health. Therefore, to comply with the norms and requirements, a system of planning and implementing measures has been created to prevent the following risks:
- illegal entry into the territory of nuclear prohibited facilities, theft or damage;
- Attempts to destroy or harm;
- environmental sabotage or terrorist acts;
Physical protection of this kind is carried out by serious authorized organizations. On ships and other floating equipment, the crew provides physical protection.
These difficult and very expensive events have a very serious argument, which is called international terrorism. In order to make an atomic bomb, you will need at least 25 kg of enriched uranium. This is unlikely to be able to criminal groups in the world. But terrorists are increasingly interested in nuclear materials because of the opportunity to build the so-called dirty bomb - ordinary explosives with nuclear filling. Such a bomb is evaluated as a radiological weapon with a damaging factor in the form of ionizing radiation. Therefore, the issue of nuclear facility security has become an element of big politics.
Import and export
Licenses for the import and export of nuclear materials are issued strictly by federal ministries with the agreement of the Atomic Energy Agency. If radioisotopes are transported for medical use, health authorities are involved in licensing activities.
The “nuclear” status of the country with which import-export relations are established is very important: if the country does not possess nuclear weapons, then export can be made only after confirmation and assurance from the government of that country that the obtained export nuclear materials will not be used for weapons production.
IAEA
The International Atomic Energy Agency has existed since 1957. The agency’s goal is specific and unique: to monitor so that the peaceful nuclear industry does not turn into the military. The IAEA signs a treaty with member countries called a safeguards agreement.
It is noteworthy that the IAEA does not make any political assessments and does not engage in detective studies. The agency prefers to work with real facts and draws its conclusions only after its own inspections.
If suddenly in a country nuclear materials are switched from peaceful production to military rails, the IAEA will not be able to stop this process, which, in fact, is not part of its function. This case will be presented for discussion at the UN. The IAEA reports and conclusions are renowned for their correct and cautious estimates.
The functions of the agency are as follows:
- support of various kinds of research for the peaceful nuclear industry;
- assistance in the exchange of scientific data, technologies and methods between countries;
- the formation of safeguards and protection systems from turning peaceful nuclear programs into military ones;
- development of norms and standards in healthcare and safety.
In summary, a few words about the prospects of nuclear energy in general. These prospects are broad and bright. People will find ways to maintain the safety of radioactive substances in the very near future, and nuclear technology will continue to develop rapidly and efficiently.