OVERVIEW OF THE INTERNATIONAL SITUATION AND THE MANAGEMENT OPTIONS FOR SPENT RADIOACTIVE SOURCES

摘要

The number of sealed radioactive sources worldwide is estimated to be much higher than existing registries indicate. The activity of a disused source may still be in the order of GBq or TBq. The incidents and accidents that have occured with a wide range of consequences showed the risk associated with spent radioactive sources, if continuity of regulatory control and technically sound management was not ensured. At the international level, the IAEA issued a technical document on the Categorization of Radiation Sources and a Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources, both being revised currently. The European Commission is proposing a Council Directive on the control of high activity sealed radioactive sources which is under discussion at present. There are sound technical options for the management of disused sealed radioactive sources. At present, however, disused sources are stored for longer periods at the users' site and for the long term at waste processing and storage facilities in many countries. This is not an ideal situation and leads to increased risk of degradation of physical integrity of the sources and of loss of control. The eventual solution for the final management of spent sources should be conditioning and disposal.