Yt is on video: Waching daily Mar 18 2018

When you hear disposal of spent nuclear fuel

you start to feel tensely

Because we live in a country, where the ecology is being paid the least amount of attention

and big nuclear accidents of the past haven't been forgotten

And later imagination starts drawing us green radioactive rivers

But actually things are better than the seem

I'd really like to start showing you the process of how nuclear fuel is being disposed, but...

Firstly, we need to run through the theory, otherwise you won't understand a thing

I'll try to be short

What is nuclear fuel?

It is a tablet of uranium oxide, placed in zirconium tubes

zirconium is a metal

so...

These tubes are called fuel rods (FR)

A combination of these fuel rods is called a fuel assembly (FA)

They are inserted into the reactor

After some time, when the uranium comes to an end and the fuel assembly fails to keep up the reaction going

it gets taken out from the reactor

What is being done with it next?

Those, who have watched the video about Leningradskaya NPP

or about the 5th power unit of Chernobyl NPP

should know what I'm talking about right now

For the rest I'll tell

And close to the floor is a long way down abyss

This abyss should have been a spent fuel pool someday

The fuel assemblies are placed in the spent fuel pool near the reactor

where it stays there from 3 to 5 years

During this time nuclear activity of the fuel assembly lowers and self-heating as well

Yes!

Fuel assemblies can heat up

It's not coal from the fire, which cools down in a couple of minutes

Fuel assemblies heat up and emit for a great deal

You may ask: Msh, but don't new fuel assemblies emit as well?

Yes, they emit too, but very low

As I said earlier, these assemblies consist of uranium

Uranium has a pretty decent half-life

Respectively, during a unit of time emits a very low amount of atoms

and has very low radioactive features

Thus, it heats up very slowly, better to say it almost doesn't heat up

what makes it possible to hang it up in the reactor room

And it won't radiate the staff that much, compared to the one just taken out of the reactor

What happens in the fuel assembly, that was taken out of the reactor?

The fact is that the uranium atoms during the chain reaction breaks up into various radioactive elements

There are formed dozens of isotopes in total

Every single one of them is radioactive

All these elements, combine, sum up. All together they produce pretty decent radiation.

That's what happens when you take it out of the reactor. It radiates everything

There are hundreds of thousands roentgens per hour

Precisely roentgens?

Yes

And there is no one in the engine room?

Yes, there is no one in the room, the handling is done by an unloading machine remotely

It's not only the dangerous radiation, but heats up very well too

This happens because the radioactive decay proceeds with energy release

The more intense the radioactive reaction is, the more fuel assembly heats up

The very dozens of isotopes, which are formed in fuel assemblies

have different half-lives: from seconds to thousands of years

That's why these assemblies are being held in the spent fuel pool for a couple of years

That is done in order to lower their activity and to lower its ability to heat up that high

But even after a few years fuel assemblies still radiate too much

because there are left many various radionuclides inside

Usually, after the extraction in spent fuel pool fuel assemblies are sent to a storage, which is usually built on the nuclear power plant territory

As you can imagine, the storage can't be elastic and something has to be done with the fuel assemblies

Here we reach the most important part of my narration

important paaart...

not to freeze

I'd like to have a warm fuel assembly right now

Wait a sec, I'd rather be frozen to death

You can't do much with the used fuel assemblies

From this moment forward I'll abbreviate Used Fuel Assemblies to UFA, so don't get lost

Here are the options:

Long-term storage

Dumping

And recycling

Recycling is worth a separate video, because it is a difficult process, which helps to return unspent uranium

back into the fuel cycle and distinguish useful radioactive isotopes for the household

Though there still remain some radioactive leftovers that should be buried

but the quantity of leftovers decrease

which makes dumping easier

As for me, dumping is a dead end because it assumes building big separate polygons, which need to be looked after

which need to be operated and guarded

What I want to say is the less we dump, more economically profitable it will be

Moreover, the recycling gives you some useful stuff. So better recycle, not dump!

The only good thing about dumping is that there are no complex and dangerous radiochemical plants involved

Because these plants separate isotopes, do uranium recovery and etc

Don't confuse storaging with dumping, because it is a temporary measure

The UFA's are stored this way to enable easy access when it'll be their turn for recycling

There are only 3 facilities in Russia that recycle used uranium fuel

They are: Production Association "Molyak"

LOL Molyak, sorry for that

There are only 3 facilities in Russia that recycle used uranium fuel

They are: Production Association "Mayak" in Chelyabinsk region

Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC) near Tomsk

And Mining and Chemical Combine (MCC) in Krasnoyarsk region

Today we'll visit MCC

This enterprise is located near Zheleznogorsk city, which is 35 km from Krasnoyarsk

During the Soviet period MCC was producing military plutonium under a defense order

When the defense order was cancelled, in order to save the potential of the facility and workplaces

it was converted

Now it storages and recycles UFA

Apart from the existing technology for mixed-oxide fuel, which is later sent to the reactor in Beloyarsk NPP

here they work out on the technology for creating remix fuel

This type of fuel will be sent to a newly built NPP with pressurized water reactors

When the process of recycling will be perfected, they'll take up UFA's that were placed here for long-term storage in special repositories

We'll visit them today

I'll show you the whole process of transporting UFA's from NPP to the storage by train To the place, where these assemblies are held for some years

Let's go

I came to Zheleznogorsk as part of the blog-tour

With me there were many journalists from different editions

Our tour consisted of 2 parts:

visiting 2 types of long-term storages

and visiting the underground part of MCC

so-called reactor plant

And a delicious break between 2 parts

Firstly, we were brought to the MCC museum, where the Head of Public Relations Department Ryzhenkov Boris Victorovich

told us about the facility and saddened us that we can't film everything we'll see today

What later confirmed the security officer

Today we'll visit two sites

which are secure areas

That's why we have some restrictions

You are very lucky to visit them, but

there are some restrictions for video filming and photography inside

Cellphones, flash drives, recording equipment and etc should be left here

In particular, when we go to long-term storage you can only take cameras for filming and taking photographs

But you can't take any dictaphones with you

As I've said only camera and video equipment

That really bummed the journalists out, because they only had dictaphones

So the only man left with filming equipment was me and TV crew

I was very lucky, so were you

And how we should write an article without our dictaphones?

Use a paper and a pen, like in the old days

After turning in the stuff, we went to shop №2 of the Isotope-Chemical plant

where is water-cooled UFA storage located

Talking in slang: wet storage

There Seelev Igor Nikolaevich, the Isotope-Chemical plant director took charge of us

who described us the process of transporting and storaging of used uranium fuel very detailed and technically competent

But before we can go to the storage room, first we need to undergo a procedure of dressing up in work clothes

Actually, it's clear here, but in order to prevent carrying away any radioactive element on your shoes or clothes,

there is a procedure of dressing up in work clothes when visiting any room that may have these elements there

That's why we look that nice

Some like turn-ups, but the cool guys from nuclear plants roll up their pants in socks

This looks like a division point between the "clear" and "dirty" zones

We are dressing up in work clothes right now

After the procedure everyone of us gets an individual dosimeter

So, the dosimeter is hung...

It is in a polyethylene packaging to prevent any radioactive dust settle on it

And is hung the white side upwards

by the way, it's red on the other side and has a number

the number is assigned to a person and you walk with it, until you exit

After walking through some corridors and after passing a couple of stages of sluicing

we get into the main room of water-cooled storage of used uranium fuel of reactor type VVER-1000

Oh, a fuel assembly

wow

and so close, so close...

Let's go through the whole technological chain of handling UFA

Firstly, they need to be transported here from the NPP

It is being done with the help of railway transport

and of course UFA's don't ride in gondola cars

The transportation of UFA's takes place in special containers

which are placed on special rail cargo carriers

Container, which is also called TP (Transport packaging)

fits 12 assemblies

TP is made of stainless steel and ensures the protection of staff and population from possible flying radioactive elements from UFA's

TP's are safe, they are made by all standards of International Atomic Energy Agency and Russian Federation,

provide sustain to all possible external effects including safe transportation of UFE by railways of Russian Federation

On the video you see TP of a different type intended for 6 UFA's

TP for 12 UFA's is essentially the same, only bigger

See these hexagonal holes? That's where UFA go

This TP can fit up to 12 UFA's

similar to the one you've seen on the display stand

This TP is also made out of stainless steel

and provides full biological protection for both, the staff and the population, when it is in use

So, when UFA's are being loaded to a container, we keep calm, because we know we have full biological protection

and while transporting them, there is no danger for staff and population

By the way, before this TP will be allowed to carry UFA's, it passes a series of procedures and tests

For example, these TP's were thrown from 9 meters high

and other safety tests, only then it was confirmed safe for transporting UFA's by railroad

and that these assemblies would be safe, no matter what happens on the way

After the cargo train arrives to Zheleznogorsk Isotope Chemical Plant it is being decoupled

And drive one container at a time into the receiving room, where we are standing right now

Later UFA's are taken out from TP's to temporary storages

As easy as it gets

But as they say in anecdotes - there are some aspects

But the thing is that even after storaging UFA's for a couple of years in spent fuel pool they still heat up

though not that intense

While transporting they are not cooled down, so they heat up to 50-80 °C

The maximum safe working temperature of a fuel rod container is 350 °C

And though 80 °C is four times less,

but if you abruptly drop it in cold water, mechanical deformation may appear, which is unacceptable

So firstly UFA's need to be cooled down slowly and carefully

TP with UFA's is hooked up away from the cargo car to the cooling room

It is a separate room under the floor, where TP is placed

Cooling water comes through separate pipelines to TP's

and with the speed of 1cm per minute water fills the inside of the container

This is done for cooling the insides of the container for a certain amount of time

So, UFA's that are inside the container are cooled down to a temperature of 30 °C in 3 to 5 hours time

When this stage is passed we do a reverse operation, we drain the water with the same speed

And I better mention the fact that this water doesn't go to the sewers

instead it goes to a filtration unit, where it is looped and the process happens again

Here we have a cycle of technical water and again I'll mention the fact,

that we don't discharge this water to the environment or to the sewers

Ok, so the UFA's inside the containers are cool and you can work with them now

TP is lifted up and later put in the reloading zone

It is a concrete compartment more than 8 meters deep filled with water

It is worth noting that from this point on all operations will be done under the water

Well, TP is under the water and UFA's should be taken out

To do this, the lid screwed on many bolts should be taken off

How do you take them off? With the help of divers or automatics?

No, no divers, we have special installations for this purpose, which automatically do this job

When the lid is unscrewed you can take out UFA's

For this purpose on the right is made a special water tunnel, where a special case for 20 UFA's is supplied

From TP with the help of a crane and a special traverse, UFA's are removed from the container one by one and place them in a storage case

After this TP is taken out of the reloading zone and it is sent for deactivation

TP, after all UFA's have been unloaded, it goes up

And here we have deactivation chambers

it's a deep section and it is designed

as you may see from up here

units have lids

there are two units

designed to

TP would be lowered there

and further with them are carried out operations

of its deactivation

after it is deactivated

to norms that allow transport

it by mass transit railroads

this TP is loaded on the train

and then

train

is ready to transport

to the next NPP

so cycle of TP is over

and what is storage case?

after filling it is attached to the crane

and then it is moved to storage unit

all of this is happening underwater

This layer of water provides full biological protection

and while doing all this operations radiation in hall

where we are now

is normal

and no evacuation of personal is needed

Personnel can be here

without any time limits

How storage unit is organized

Its a room with the size of 36m x 240m

that have floor on which we stand

space beneath it is split in to 20 sections

each section is concrete module

in which are put cases with assemblies

total number of UFA's that can be here

is over 8000 more accurate data is top secret

separate sections allow to isolate one section from the rest storage unit

for carrying out needed works

or in case of emergency

Isolation is carried out with the help of special doors.

it is a metal construction stored inside of the storage unit

and when placed securely closes needed section

Storage case is transported to storage place

via special rails

that in ordinary time are closed by lids

so there would not get any dirt or a leg of not very careful worker wouldn't get stuck

Storage case is a construction with tubes

that we will see today

as I will open section

and you will see how storage of assembles is carried out

don't worry radiation levels are normal

Today you will see everything

All I wanted additionally is

case loaded with UFA's

you can see this rails

this rails are designed for this crane

underwater

to move this cases and place them in needed sections

And finally we saw the most interesting

fuel assemblies that are not used, We can see perfectly how their heads

are poking out of the case

for comparison I show you video where everything is described (In Russian)

Fresh assembles look the same

And I will tell more about what we saw inside of the storage unit

It is very odd feeling to look at things that

were inside of the NPP core

And even more - gave birth to the chain reaction

for which this core is created

I will be honest - I love to swim

But in here? - I would never even think about it

Questionable pleasure

Water is constantly circulating

Water inside sections

is not standing still. If you were approaching

via factory lot

when you were approaching the building, you could have seen

by the left side - cooling towers

from which vapor is coming out

it is happening because of heat exchange

and of course water that is

in here is not standing still - it is circulating

Water is taken out for cleaning, cooling

but this water is traveling in closed circuit

non of it is taken away or added more

You may look at this section

this scalings

have grown in 5 years

It happened in 5 years

In every 5-7 years we

isolate section

take UFA's to other sections

and then clean each section

and then return UFA's back

What a powerful power nature is

storage unit in which we are now was opened in

1985 and after 30 years

its life span was extended and according to new rules

that are more harsh

it was upgraded with new technological solutions

that increased its endurance towards earthquakes, possible plane crashes from the sky

and other unpleasant moments

Of course this place is equipped with all

the necessary devices

for radiation control

Control of hydrogen levels, temperature and so on

This place is

constantly carrying out check ups

from the side of Russian Federation control

That's why the front line experience that

I was in SKB company

in Sweden - maybe someone knows

about such company

They are world leaders

in centralized

control of storage of nuclear fuel

And so this place is not standing behind them

Those solutions that we are using

SKB is only now starting

to use them

They are doing everything the same way?

Basically yes

Will repeat myself again

Assemblies are packed up and loaded on the trains

that bring them here

by one transporters are brought in to storage unit

Package is lifted up and then taken in to cooling chamber

where UFA's are cooled down after heating up on their way

then TP is moved to the loading zone

where underwater from it are taken assemblies and put in to storage case

empty TP is sent to deactivation

and storage case is brought to one out of 20

storage sections

After visiting wet storage unit we are moving to

dry storage unit

again we are changing our clothes

to our everyday clothes

and most important in all of this

is not to forget

that there is partially contaminated/clean zone

Second storage unit that we were shown is in a different type

It is a dry type - that means it doesn't use water and is designed for UFA's

from cores of RBMK type

This building (there are two)

It is a complex of dry

storage units for used nuclear fuel

of RBMK cores - we are going to get in there

By its structure

this building is similar to VVR storage unit

so that's why we will walk through RBMK

but there will be same as VVR

And there I will technically show you

What is main Idea of dry

storage unit of Nuclear fuel

by idea it is just a step forward in safety

This storages allow safely for a long time

preserve nuclear fuel - for up to 1 hundred years

Colleagues lets go

wow

and so

Second redressing

after we changed clothes

we can check our selves

cool devices

After getting inside I was

surprised by its technical perfection

Probably it was caused by bright colour of walls and floor

and contrasting with them colour of constructions and machinery

I felt like a hero of American movies that are working in sterile

labs

Very odd feeling especially after all

the abandoned places I saw

Lets remember underground lab its like day and night

We wait until the rest

will change clothes

I have time to say few words. Editing will be very fun as

I will have to dig out all

the info we were told

write my own text

and only then use what

I will capture in this short moments

while no one is telling detailed story about

what is located in here

and what is happening in here

interesting despite being hard task

And there are 2 main differences of this storage unit from the previous one

Type of spent fuel

and it is dry, not wet

before I will tell and show

I need to tell you difference between RBMK and VVR

Assembly VVR I showed you

on the table in wet storage unit

It is almost 4m construction consisting off 312 fuel rods

fat one. RBMK assembly looks different

it is thicker and longer

it consists of 2 packs of fuel rods connected together

amount of fuel rods in package - 18

length of construction 10m

It is loaded to the core

After taking out of the core

they are held in the spent fuel pool near the reactor and then are sent further

such UFA, when you pull it out of the core

transporting

10m construction

is very problematic

in chambers they are cut

in half

and listen again - fuel rods

are not damaged

each package is separated from each other with

special metal joint

so we don't loose hermetic properties

and in the end from one whole assembly we have to packages of fuel rods

after that each package of fuel rods is placed in special ampule

made from stainless steel

exactly this ampule you see on the screen

this ampules are made

in here

We have separate hall

where we make

all not standard

materials that we need for this factory

by ourselves , Further everything

goes same way as in previous storage unit. Railways transporting

from NPP to this storage unit

in front of you is scary white cylinder with writings that are hard to understand

and weight of 101 tone

its a TP

as you may see it looks different than used for VVR

MBK means - metal concrete container

its walls are 40cm thick

made from heavy concrete

inside of this container is metal transporting cover

that has 140 beams

in each beam goes 1 ampule

this 101 tone

monster is placed in to 26 ton case

and this huge "Matryoshka" is put on the rails

few transporters

bring from NPP to this storage unit

with the help of 166t crane

is moved from horizontal to vertical position

it is placed on platform where protective cover is taken off

From here container is taken

to hot chamber

hot it is not because of ovens but

because there is work with UFA's carried out - and they have strong levels of radiation

in this hot chamber from container ampules are taken out and

are placed in to cases

case is done from stainless steel and has 31 place

in to each of them is placed one ampule with pack of fuel rods

after case is filled it is closed with the lid

to create in case needed conditions

that will provide long time safe storage

of Nuclear fuel

case is welded

Created vacuum

and there is pumped

nitrogen mixture to create inert conditions inside

that

wont allow appearance of damage on cases

then from hot chamber case is moved to storage unit

it represents 11 concrete sections

on screen you can see how they are separated by blue lines

in each section are located nests - circles. You can see them perfectly

in each nest goes two cases

How it is done

loading unloading machine is here

right?

this machine has revolver type mechanism

what does it mean

where we need to unload fuel

machine comes to there

here

bellow is 1m protective

lid

machine before coming here

from hot chamber

case comes and revolver mechanism spins

there below

you cant see from here

then next one is loaded

mechanism spins. then machine comes to nest

lid is pulled out to machine

And mechanism spins and

unloads one case

spins and unloads another case

spins again and places the protective lid

then this nest is welded

Vacuumed and is filled with nitrogen mixture

and then it is stored in here

heat up of assemblies no one annulated

and cooling of them is done very simple

with air thanks to natural suction

what we can see on scheme, and so we are standing on an overlap

dark line is protective lid of nest

beneath which we can see two cases one above another

air comes from outside goes below the nests

and by rising up takes away heat from nests

filled with cases

after what goes upwards

suction is created that is creating needed circulation of air

those that don't know may get bad ideas

that air becomes radioactive - no it is wrong assumption

as there is no direct contact with the spent fuel

main difference between wet and dry storage is in safety

agree that concrete box in which cooling

is done by air is safer

than huge pools that have to be constantly checked for leaks

water that has to be cleaned and so on

Dry storages have less risks

and everything is done to change everything to dry storage

and of course work is carried out towards creating new REMIX nuclear fuel

when it will be launched everything that we seen here

will be recycled

so all that is left is to wish luck to workers of this factory

Look there, its building that is under construction

it is testing/demonstration centre

of nuclear fuel recycling - it is a building that I told about

The one that has to be finished in 2020

by working capabilities

it will allow to recycle

to 250t of nuclear waste by year

with possibility to increase

capability to 400T

I hope you now have a slight idea of how

long time storage is carried out of UFA's

In next video we will visit with you

One of the top secret factories of RF

that is located beneath the mountain

so called reactor factory where

are located few nuclear reactors

there will be unique and interesting frames so stay with us

and thank you for your time and see you in next videos

with you was MSh and I am going to warm up

For more infomation >> Что делают с отработанным ядерным топливом с АЭС?/What is done with spent nuclear fuel from NPP - Duration: 32:07.

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Steve Bannon Says Being Called "Racist" Is "A Badge Of Honor" - Duration: 3:19.

Recently, Steve Bannon, the former advisor to Donald Trump, and at least on two separate

occasions, the guy that ran Breitbart, recently gave a speech in France to the far right National

Front Party, where he told the crowd that if the critics call you a racist, you need

to wear that label like a badge of honor.

Now, for those of you who aren't familiar with France's National Front Party, it is

a party that dislikes, I guess, immigrants.

I believe the word hates immigrants would probably be a little bit more accurate there.

Not a big fan of Muslims.

It is, for all intents and purposes, a racist organization, and they have helped sway elections

in France in recent years.

And so, they invited a guy like Steve Bannon over, and Bannon tells them that yes, be proud

to be a racist, because Bannon is, obviously.

When you look at what Steve Bannon has accomplished in his life as an advisor to Donald Trump,

running Breitbart, all of it is based upon racism.

Breitbart peddles racism and hatred, not just against African-Americans, but against Jewish

individuals, against immigrants, against Muslims.

That is racism, and Bannon brought that same thing with him to the Donald Trump White House.

Now, he is out there telling these people that they should wear that term like a badge

of honor?

This man is absolutely disgusting and despicable, and if he's still in France right now, I hope

that they don't let him back into the United States, because somebody who holds those kinds

of views and is proud of it, that's the kind of person that needs to be on a watch list

rather than somebody who should have the ear of the President of the United States.

That's the real threat in the United States that we need to be tackling.

It's not the people coming across the border.

It's not the people arriving here on airplanes.

It's the people like Steve Bannon, born and raised here, who live among us, who hold these

disgusting, racist beliefs, and believe that they're a symbol of pride, rather than the

symbol of shame that our society should be viewing them as.

Steve Bannon makes no qualms about being a racist here in the United States, and neither

do his followers, and that is the problem.

There's no way to really change these people's minds.

I believe that a lot of them, including Steve Bannon, are too far gone, but we need some

kind of campaign, an education campaign, something to convince younger Americans that this is

not only not acceptable, but it's something that's going to make your life miserable,

should you choose to embrace the kind of racism and hatred that people like Steve Bannon and

organizations like Breitbart have been peddling for over a decade.

For more infomation >> Steve Bannon Says Being Called "Racist" Is "A Badge Of Honor" - Duration: 3:19.

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Nightcore - God Is A Girl | Lyrics - Duration: 2:46.

Remembering me, discover and see

All over the world, she's known as a girl

To those who are free, their minds shall be key

Forgotten as the past, 'cause history will last

God is a girl, wherever you are