The old cores of the liquid metal cooled Alfa-class submarine reactors have been stored in Gremikha for decades and posed a radiation threat both to the environment and local residents.
The new monitoring system is financed by the European Union’s Northern Dimension Environ Environmental Program (NDEP) and administrated by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The new computer-based monitoring system will be incorporated in the Murmansk regional system for radiation monitoring.
The system permanently monitors and records temperature, humidity, radiation level and neutron flux in each cell of two storage facilities where SRC are located. It also generates warning signals in case of emergency, according to a newsletter from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Commissioning of the system will allow a time-extension of the storage facilities for the Alfa-submarines reactors till 2015. Before this date all spent nuclear fuel should be removed from Gremikha.
