Radiation situation dynamics at the Andreeva Bay site for temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste over the period 2002-2016.

The Coastal Technical Base (CTB) №569 at Andreeva Bay was established in the early 1960s and intended for the refueling of nuclear submarine reactors and temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and radioactive waste (RW). In 2001, the base was transferred to the Russian Ministry for Atomic Energy and the site remediation began. The paper describes in detail the radiation situation change at the technical site in Andreeva Bay from 2002-2016, the period of preparation for the most critical phase of remedial work: removal of spent fuel assemblies. The analysis of aggregated indicators and data mining were used. The article suggests the best number and location of checkpoints needed to ensure sufficient accuracy of the radiation situation description. The fractal properties of the radiation field are studied using the Hurst index. The relationship between checkpoints was assessed using the method of searching for checkpoint communities. The decrease in the integral of the ambient dose equivalent rate (ADER) at the technical site was evaluated by the method of time series decomposition. Three components of time series were identified: trend, seasonal and residual. The trend of the ADER integral over the technical site is a monotonic decreasing function, where the initial and final values differ tenfold. Taking into account that 137Cs dominates the radiation situation on-site, it is clear that the ADER due to the radionuclide decay will have decreased by 1.4 times. It is estimated that only a small proportion of 137Cs has migrated off-site. Therefore, approximately a sevenfold decrease in dose rate is mainly due to remediation activities of personnel. During the year, the seasonal component varies the ADER integral by a factor of two, due to snowfall. The residual component reflects the uncertainty of the ADER integral calculation and phases of active SNF and RW management. The methods developed are used to support the optimization of remediation work as well as regulatory supervision of occupational radiation protection.

Methods of minimising doses incurred by external exposure while moving in radiation hazardous areas.

Radiation doses received by workers during their movement within areas contaminated as a result of events and activities, leading to emergency or existing exposure situations, may provide a substantial contribution to total external exposure during remediation work. This paper describes an approach to minimise worker external exposure in these circumstances, based on graph theory. The paper describes several tasks, including: searching for a route with the lowest dose, searching for an optimal bypass with a given set of control points and searching for the optimal road network coverage. Classical graph theory algorithms have been used (Dijkstra's algorithm, Chinese postman problem and travelling salesman problem). Algorithms for solving the above mentioned problems have been developed and were included in the information-analytical system for radiation safety. This software has been applied for optimisation of protection during remediation work at the Andreeva Bay site of temporary storage for spent fuel and radioactive waste in the Kola Peninsula, both in the context of existing exposure situations and improving the preparedness for emergency exposure situations.

3D simulation as a tool for improving the safety culture during remediation work at Andreeva Bay.

Andreeva Bay in northwest Russia hosts one of the former coastal technical bases of the Northern Fleet. Currently, this base is designated as the Andreeva Bay branch of Northwest Center for Radioactive Waste Management (SevRAO) and is a site of temporary storage (STS) for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and other radiological waste generated during the operation and decommissioning of nuclear submarines and ships. According to an integrated expert evaluation, this site is the most dangerous nuclear facility in northwest Russia. Environmental rehabilitation of the site is currently in progress and is supported by strong international collaboration. This paper describes how the optimization principle (ALARA) has been adopted during the planning of remediation work at the Andreeva Bay STS and how Russian-Norwegian collaboration greatly contributed to ensuring the development and maintenance of a high level safety culture during this process. More specifically, this paper describes how integration of a system, specifically designed for improving the radiological safety of workers during the remediation work at Andreeva Bay, was developed in Russia. It also outlines the 3D radiological simulation and virtual reality based systems developed in Norway that have greatly facilitated effective implementation of the ALARA principle, through supporting radiological characterisation, work planning and optimization, decision making, communication between teams and with the authorities and training of field operators.

[Regulatory supervision and radiation survey in the area of location of former military technical bases].

Activities related to the rehabilitation of areas and facilities of the temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste (SNF and RW) at Andreeva Bay and Gremikha on the Kola Peninsula and in the Primorsky Krai in the Russian Far East is an important component of the regulatory functions of the Federal Medical biological Agency (FMBA of Russia). Technical support to the FMBA of Russia in this activity is provided by A.L Burnazyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center Main research interests include evaluation of radiological threats to determine the priority directions of regulation, a detailed analysis of the radiation situation at areas, territories and in vicinity of temporary waste storage facilities, radiation control and environmental monitoring, the development of digital maps and geoinformation systems, project expertise in the field of rehabilitation of PVC including the management of SNF and RW Implementation of these natural, practical and theoretical works is completed by development a set of regulatory documents ensuring adherence to radiation safety for the stuff population and the environment, and the also documents governing the management of SNF and RW waste in the territories of PVC.

[Clinical features of female genital tuberculosis in the period of 1980 to 2005].

Comparative analysis of two groups of patients with female genital tuberculosis treated at the Saint Petersburg Research Institute of Phthiosiopulmonology in 1980 to 2005 has shown that patients of younger age have recently fallen ill with this disease. The genital tuberculous process is commonly preceded or attended by other forms of tuberculosis of various organs and systems, such as the lung, lymph nodes, and kidney. The pain syndrome and impaired menstrual cycle are observed in half the patients; infertility is present in 60%; profound anatomic changes are less frequently seen in the fallopian tubes. Improvement of bacteriological methods promoted the timely diagnosis of the disease.

[The modern organ- and function-sparing surgical treatment in oncology]. / Sovremennoe organosokhraniaiushchee i funktsional'no shchadiashchee khirurgicheskoe lechenie v onkologii.

The results of organ-sparing treatment of patients with cancers of the breast, uterine cervix, endometrium and ovary are described in the paper. A prospective randomized clinical study launched in 1995 at Petrov's Research Institute of Oncology comprised cases of above 700 patients with breast cancer, around 300 women with cancer in situ and with microinvasive cancer of the uterine cervix and 83 patients with initial endometrial cancer. The results of the above treatment (segment resection + axillar dissection + radiotherapy) were shown to be similar to those obtained after Petey-Dyson mastectomy (5-year survival of 86.7% versus 88.8%, p = 0.81). The risk of local recurrence was increasing in patients with the tumors' diameter of more than 1 cm who were not treated by radiotherapy. The total regression of tumors was registered in 70% of patients with initial endometrial cancer after hormone therapy by progestagens and antiestrogens; 20% of them maintained the reproductive function.

[Doppler investigation of blood flow in uterine vessels of patients with endometrial cancer]. / Dopplerometricheskoe issledovanie krovotoka v matochnykh sosudakh u bol'nykh rakom éndometriia.

125 suspects for endometrial pathology were examined to evaluate clinical significance of color Doppler sonography for comprehensive diagnosis of endometrial carcinoma. This pathology was identified in 114; atypical hyperplasia--11. The data on combined application of traditional ultrasound and color Doppler sonography were compared with those on clinical and postoperative histological examinations. The combined method proved the most informative both in primary diagnosis of endometrial carcinoma and assessment of invasion into the myometrium. The specific features of blood supply to carcinoma are discussed.

[Effectiveness of combined resection and exenteration of the pelvic organs as part of the comprehensive treatment of extensive malignancies of the rectum and female genitals]. / Effektivnost' kombinirovannykh rezektsii i ékzenteratsii organov malogo taza kak étapa kompleksnogo lecheniia rasprostranennykh opukholei priamoi kishki i zhenskikh genitalii.

The results of the surgical treatment of 865 patients with extended malignancies of the rectum and female genitals are presented. Combined resection and exenteration of organs of the small pelvis (both radical and palliative to ensure cytoreduction of tumor) were carried out in 695 cases (palliative surgery for symptoms--170). The number of resections and sphincter-saving operations has increased while the lethality rates have dropped in recent years. Three-year survival after combined radical surgery for rectal cancer was 59.1%; five-year survival--49% (palliation with removal of distant metastases--26.0 and 14.8%; without removal--24.2 and 0%, respectively; palliative surgery for symptoms--2.3 and 0%, respectively). In cases of palliative surgery for cytoreduction of tumor of the female genitals, 3- and 5-year survival after removal of all distant foci was 66.2 and 54.1%; partial cytoreduction--42.2 and 28.8%, and surgery for symptoms--13.8 and 13.8%, respectively. Cytoreduction improved both the chances and efficacy of adjuvant radio- and chemotherapy. It is suggested that surgery be included as a component of complex treatment of malignancies; combined cytoreduction is fully justified even if its effect is merely palliative.

[Morphologic factors influencing the prognosis of squamous-cell cervical cancer]. / Morfologicheskie kriterii, vliiaiushchie na prognoz ploskokletochnogo raka sheiki matki.

The role of such morphological factors as depth of invasion, tumor growth pattern, distinct boundary of tumor, presence of tumor emboli in vessels, level of lymphocyte-plasmocyte infiltration and mitotic activity of tumor cells in the course and prognosis of squamous-cell cervical carcinoma has been studied. Invasion depth, tumor pattern, tumor boundary and emboli in the vessels are prognostically relevant in lymph-related dissemination and recurrence of the disease.

[Pathogenetic variation of uterine cervix tumors]. / Patogeneticheskaia neodnorodnost' raka sheiki matki

Variation in pathogenetic pattern was suggested on the basis of an evaluation of biological and tumor-related factors carried out in 505 patients with primary cervical tumors, stage I-III. Clinical course and prognosis appeared to be in correlation with the variation.