RB-042-24 "Recommendations for Justifying the Selection and Application of Barrier Clay Materials in Radioactive Waste Storage Facilities"

Dear esteemed colleagues,

We are delighted to inform you that very recently, the safety guide dedicated to Engineered Barrier Systems (EBS) — RB-042-24 "Recommendations for Justifying the Selection and Application of Barrier Clay Materials in Radioactive Waste Storage Facilities" — was published on the website of the FBU "SEC NRS" (Scientific and Engineering Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Safety). The Russian Clay Group actively participated in the development of this guide.

This safety guide for the use of atomic energy has been developed to facilitate compliance with the requirements of federal norms and regulations in the field of atomic energy use. It contains recommendations from the Federal Service for Ecological, Technological, and Nuclear Supervision (Rostekhnadzor) on the selection, justification of selection, and application of barrier clay materials, including on:

• Justifying the selection of barrier clay materials depending on the safety functions performed by the EBS based on them;
• Quality control and assurance of barrier clay materials at radioactive waste storage facility sites before and during the construction of the EBS;
• Monitoring the condition of EBS based on barrier clay materials;
• Justifying the performance of established safety functions by EBS based on barrier clay materials.

The guide is intended for use by organizations performing work and providing services to operating organizations for the design, construction, operation, and decommissioning (closure) of these facilities, including carrying out research and development work to create EBS based on barrier clay materials.

The scientific and technical level of the guide corresponds to the current state of science and technology, the requirements of legal and regulatory documents in force in the Russian Federation, as well as the recommendations of international organizations. You can access the document on the official website of the FBU "SEC NRS" via the link.

Furthermore, on December 1, 2024, the standard STO 95 12094-2024 "Standard of the Rosatom State Corporation 'Engineered Safety Barriers of Radioactive Waste Storage and Disposal Facilities Based on Clay Materials. Quality Control'" was adopted. Laboratory staff from the Scientific Centre "Engineering Barriers" at IGEM RAS also actively participated in the development of this standard.

The results of the group's work are also highlighted on the news page of the FBU "SEC NRS" and in an article by S. A. Bogatov, N. I. Drobyshevsky, V. V. Krupskaya, S. V. Zakusin, and V. A. Lekhov in the scientific-technical journal "Radioactive Waste."