Speaker
Description
Key words: Clearance; minimization of waste, sustainability, management of resources.
In Argentina, on the year 2009, Generic Clearance Levels based on the IAEA Safety Standards Series RS-G-1.7 (2004), and the Document Safety Series N°44 ( 2005) of the IAEA, were adopted by resolution of the Directors Board. On the year 2011, the first regulatory guide (AR 08 rev 0) addressing the main concept of clearance and the necessary recommendations for its implementation was published. Since then, the Nuclear Regulatory Body provided many workshops and training courses to users of radioactive materials of different facilities, such as Category I and II facilities, as well as operators of NPP´s. The main objective of these workshops was to train the facilities´ personnel on the importance of implementing clearance, as part of the radioactive waste management system, emphasizing on the minimization of waste allowing sustainability and adequate management of resources. As it was a new concept, it had to be explained and accepted by users and operators.
During the 14 years since the concept of clearance was first incorporated into the regulatory standards, much has happened and evolve. In this sense, it is worth mentioning that the Regulatory Guide has been updated several times, based on the new GSR part 3 (2016), in order to include the concept of conditional clearance and incorporate surface generic clearance levels. In addition, many clearance authorization requests were received from different radioactive facilities, including facilities form the nuclear fuel cycle.
This paper summarizes the history of the implementation of the clearance concept throughout the years in the country, focusing on some examples of clearance requests received and how they were addressed, fostering sustainability.
