On-site gamma dose rates at the Andreeva Bay shore technical base, northwest Russia

The spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and radioactive waste (RAW) storage facility at Andreeva Bay shore technical base (STB) is one of the largest and most hazardous nuclear legacy sites in northwest Russia. Originally commissioned in the 1960s the facility now stores large amounts of SNF and RAW associated with the Russian Northern Fleet of nuclear powered submarines. The objective of the present study was to map ambient gamma dose rates throughout the facility, in particular at a number of specific sites where SNF and RAW are stored. The data presented here are taken from a Norwegian–Russian collaboration enabling the first publication in the scientific literature of the complete survey of on-site dose rates. Results indicate that elevated gamma dose rates are found primarily at discrete sites within the facility; maximum dose rates of up to 1000 μSv/h close to the ground (0.1 m) and up to 3000 μSv/h at 1 m above ground were recorded, higher doses at the 1 m height being indicative primarily of the presence of contaminated equipment as opposed to ground contamination. Highest dose rates were measured at sites located in the immediate vicinity of buildings used for storing SNF and sites associated with storage of solid and liquid radioactive wastes. Elevated dose rates were also observed near the former channel of a small brook that became heavily contaminated as a result of radioactive leaks from the SNF storage at Building 5 starting in 1982. Isolated patches of elevated dose rates were also observed throughout the STB. A second paper detailing the radioactive soil contamination at the site is published in this issue of Journal of Environmental Radioactivity.