At unit 2 of Russia’s Smolensk NPP, production of the first batch of cobalt-60 has been completed. The starting material (cobalt-59) was loaded into the unit 2 reactor in 2018. The technological process involved specialists from several departments: the department of radiation technologies, the reactor workshop, the department of nuclear safety & reliability, the department of radiation safety, the transport workshop, the management of production & technological equipment, and the security service.
“In the reactor storage pools, under a protective layer of water, the rods with irradiated cobalt are disassembled into sections. Then they are placed in transport and packaging containers and sent by specialised transport in compliance with safety requirements to the Leningrad NPP,” said Viktor Timchenko, head of the radiation technology department. “We are now loading new starting material into the reactor installations at units 1&2 which will be converted into the target product under the influence of thermal neutrons.”
The irradiated products were removed, disassembled into parts and sent to the Leningrad NPP, where they will be finally prepared for transfer to the customer. In total, in 2024, Smolensk NPP shipped 28 containers with cobalt-60 – enough to sterilise 210,000 cubic metres of medical products. In total, some 50 containers have been shipped from unit 2 – enough to sterilise about 370,000 cubic metres of medical products.
The main use of the Co-60 produced at nuclear utility Rosenergoatom’s facilities is as a source of irradiation to sterilise medical devices, food and other products. Rosenergoatom is one of the world’s main producers of Co-60. The RBMK-type reactors operated at the Smolensk NPP have a competitive advantage over other types of power reactors in terms of isotope production as they can reliably irradiate materials without affecting power generation.
Smolensk NPP began Co-60 production in 2017. Additional cobalt absorber rods (SDKP – Sterzhen Dopolnitelnovo Kobaltovovo Poglotitelya) manufactured by JSC Mashinostroitelny Zavod (part of Rosatom’s Fuel Company TVEL) were loaded into the three power units at Smolensk in stages. Each SDKP comprises 144 nickel-plated natural cobalt-59 capsules. Transformation of the starting material into the cobalt-60 isotope takes about five years.
“Production of cobalt-60 is included in the development strategy of Rosatom’s isotope business including creating new products for the Russian and international markets.” said Smolensk NPP Director Pavel Lubensky. “The first batch was removed at the beginning of 2023. The Smolensk NPP plans to continue producing cobalt-60 until the end of its operating life.”
The three RBMK-1000 reactors of Smolensk NPP were commissioned 1983, 1985 and 1990. The reactors of Smolensk NPP are the improved versions of RBMK with a number of innovative safety systems. They have all undergone remediation of their graphite stacks, extending their operating life beyond the original 30 years, with shutdown currently planned for 2028, 2030 and 2034 but this may be extended further.
Currently, Smolensk NPP is actively preparing for the production of molybdenum-99, iodine-125, iodine-131, samarium-153 and lutetium-177. To begin the extraction of cobalt-60, a set of domestic equipment was designed, manufactured, installed and tested. A licence from regulator Rostekhnadzor for handling radioactive is valid until 2037.
