SRCEPES SAEPF Activities in the State Physical Protection System

4.7.1 Structure and Functions of State Physical Protection System

Currently, as a result of the threat assessment analysis, it was established that the Law “Technical Regulations on Radiation Safety” [12] and the Law on Radiation Safety [3] only partially comply with the provisions of international standards and recommendations on physical protection and safety. For example, the law does not cover:

 provision for the development of a national security policy and strategy on physical protection

 provision that radiation safety and physical protection measures should be designed and implemented in an integrated manner so that physical protection measures are not implemented to the detriment of

radiation safety, and vice versa (there is only one mention of physical protection in paragraph 6 of Article 3 “Objects of technical regulation Types of activity "Technical Regulations”);

 classification of radioactive waste is required but there is no reference to the document where such classification is given.

 requirement for the Regulator to create a regulatory system to ensure protection and safety, which includes: the use of notifications and official authorizations; consideration and assessment of facilities and activities; inspection of facilities and activities; ensuring compliance (enforcement) of regulatory requirements; performing regulatory functions related to the physical safety and security of sources;

and providing information and advice to parties affected by their decisions;

 requirements to ensure control of radioactive sources that have been left unattended, lost, placed in the wrong place, stolen or transferred without proper official permission

 requirement that the person or organization responsible for the facilities or activities associated with radiation risks has the primary responsibility for ensuring protection and safety.

The new regulation on the regulatory authority (SRCEPES) [36], which is currently being approved by the Government, following approval of amendments to the Law “On the licensing system” [2] to start licensing activities related to the treatment of ionizing radiation, includes regulatory supervision and control of physical protection. Also, it is assumed that the main provisions will be established in a new Law on Nuclear and Radiation Safety, and will contain the following articles:

 Ensuring the physical protection of nuclear facilities, radiation sources, storage facilities, nuclear materials and radioactive substances.

 Requirements for ensuring the physical protection of nuclear facilities, radiation sources, storage facilities, nuclear materials and radioactive substance.

 Access control for facilities handling nuclear materials or radioactive substances.

The Kyrgyz Republic has passed laws “On Accession to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material” of July 14, 2015 № 155 and Law “On ratification of the Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material of October 26, 1979, adopted on July 8, 2005 in the city of Vienna”.

There is a significant challenge with the physical protection of SIR located in the warehouse of the Kara-Balta Certification and Metrology Center and OJSC KGRK in Kara-Kara-Balta. The isotope store of the

metrological service does not currently have reliable financing and supervision, nor adequate control from the KGRK OJSC security departmental. In the event of downtime or bankruptcy of the plant, the question arises as to how to ensure the safety of isotope storage located on the territory of KGRK OJSC. Due to the lack of relevant requirements and financial resources, no actions had been taken by 2019 to improve the status of the isotope storage.

4.7.2 SRCEPES SAEPF Functions and Tasks

According to the National Action Plan [6], after ratification of the Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material [37], the future tasks and efforts of the Government, SRCEPES, DDPSSES and SIETS will be as follows:

 provide a regulatory framework for physical protection issues

 provide the requirements and internal structure for assessing the security of installed or projected protection

 ensure the radiation safety of facilities where radioactive waste and other radiation sources are operated and stored, considering the design basis threat

 create a system of professional training, retraining and advanced training of specialists in physical protection, accounting and control of nuclear materials

 license physical protection activities

 undertake timely inspections in addition to establishing licensing requirements and increasing the capacity of personnel and physical resources to support the regime of physical protection in the state

 exercise state control and monitoring of the state of physical protection

 conduct periodic assessments of the threat of sabotage, theft or any other illegal seizure of radioactive materials to further enhance the functioning of the State system of physical protection

 carry out state expert appraisal of projects for the creation, reconstruction, and technical re-equipment of systems for the physical protection of facilities, including systems for the transport of radioactive materials

 maintain the physical protection mode at the facility level to ensure that the operating organizations and licensees (responsible for installations and facilities) determine the design threats at the facility level, and create and maintain physical protection systems for facilities and radioactive materials

 increase the level of radiation safety and security culture of the subjects by taking coercive measures against licensees in the event of non-compliance with the requirements of legislation on physical protection and licensing conditions

 cooperate in the field of physical protection with the IAEA, other international organizations and relevant bodies of foreign states

 inform the relevant state bodies on the state of ensuring the physical protection of objects

 interact with republican and local executive authorities in case of sabotage; and

 create and ensure the functioning of a unified system of safe interaction between government bodies and legal entities, whose powers include the functions of physical protection.

4.7.3 Basic Areas of SRCEPES SAEPF Activities

Currently, the following main objects are identified for which it is necessary to develop a system of physical protection:

 National Center for Oncology and Hematology in Bishkek

 Storage facility for radioactive waste in Bishkek

 SIR warehouse in Kara-Balta

 OJSC KGRK in Kara-Balta (storage of sources and materials falling under the Non-Proliferation Guarantee, transportation of uranium-containing materials);

 Several mining and processing plants for gold mining (LTD “Altynken”, CJSC Kumtor Gold Company, since 2020 LTD “KAZ Minerals Bozymchak”) and several combinations of building products in the Osh and Dzhalal-Abad regions (SIR operation to control the density bulk materials and soil density during the construction of dams);

 Uranium-thorium tailings and dams, which are under the responsibility of the MES, JSC “KGRK”, Chemical Production Plant “Astra” and CJSC “TK Geo Resource” in Orlovka; and

 Other owners of SIR registered in the National Registry for accounting of sources (the power of ionizing radiation from their sources is significantly lower than that of the organizations mentioned above).

The following objects are also involved in the system of physical protection:

 Checkpoints for inspection at the state border

 Checkpoints at the international airports in Bishkek and in Osh

 Objects such as the Oncology Center in Osh and diagnostic nuclear centers in Bishkek that are in development.

State control over compliance with the requirements of physical protection is currently carried out by the SRCEPES as part of a cooperation project with the US Department of State, and SIETS within the framework of national control and accounting for SIR. Requirements for conducting routine and

unscheduled inspections of physical protection, requirements for the periodicity of inspections of physical protection, and the basis, procedure and criteria for assessing the degree of risk for activities involving the transport of radioactive materials, and for recording the results of inspections are not currently developed.

There is also no list of offenses in the field of physical protection.

Inspections of physical protection systems at specified entities, other than those registered in the national registry, organizations operating SIR and radiation generators, are carried out without a defined system, more often as part of inter-agency commissions and design works organized by international organizations or other governments. Such facilities include RWSF in Bishkek, a warehouse of sources in Kara-Balta and the Oncology Center.

During 2017-2018, a number of meetings and training courses on radiation and physical protection during the use and storage of sources and generators of ionizing radiation were held with the assistance of the IAEA and the US State Department.