Recently, the media has frequently reported on the request from the State Office for Radiation Protection (DZZZ) to convert the Temporary Storage of Radioactive Waste (PSRM) of the Ruđer Bošković Institute into a Central Storage for Radioactive Waste for all of Croatia.
Director Dr. Danica Ramljak has not publicly addressed this topic until now, as stated in the IRB’s press release, explaining that one of the reasons was to initiate a meeting with President Jadranka Kosor, which Dr. Ramljak requested over a month ago to discuss the current situation and find an adequate solution to this problem. Given that the requested meeting has not yet taken place and there is significant public interest, the IRB decided to present the background of the radioactive waste storage issue in its press release.
For the past 10 years, the DZZZ and the relevant ministries of the Republic of Croatia have not found an adequate solution for the Central Storage of Radioactive Waste in Croatia, which, according to European Commission regulations, every country was required to do by 2014. In 2006, the director of the DZZZ, Dr. Dragan Kubelka, attempted several times to obtain consent from the then director of the IRB, Dr. Mladen Žinić, to lease part of the IRB’s PSRM for use as the Central Storage of Croatia, which Dr. Žinić refused. The PSRM at the IRB was created to temporarily and safely store used radioactive sources and materials resulting from the research process at the Institute. Given that for many years no adequate location for storing radioactive material has been found in Croatia, the IRB has occasionally stored low and medium-level radioactive waste in its PSRM at the request of the DZZZ, even though this is not in accordance with its function as a temporary storage facility built for the IRB’s own needs, as stated in the explanation.
The government, at a meeting held on December 30, 2009, made a decision designating the Ruđer Bošković Institute as the central location in Croatia for the storage of radioactive waste, used sealed radioactive sources, and sources of ionizing radiation that are not intended for further use. To execute this decision, the government tasked Dr. Kubelka, who in early 2010 brought a proposal for a contract to the IRB that did not clearly define several key points, including the duration for which radioactive material would be stored, which must be short and temporary, a clear list of all external radiation sources, including quantity and activity, and clear methods of financing. The contract also did not include an expert analysis that the current Ruđer storage is adequate for long-term acceptance, especially considering that the PSRM is located in a densely populated, seismic, and seismologically unstable area. Only later did Dr. Kubelka, at the insistence of Dr. Ramljak, include some items in the contract, but even in the new contract, it was not defined what temporary means nor were there guarantees from the government that a permanent solution would be found in a short time (no longer than 5 years).
Since this issue is not only about the IRB and its employees but also about the residents of the entire City of Zagreb, Director Dr. Ramljak appointed an Advisory Committee to revise the draft contract for the storage of radioactive waste at the IRB, which includes IRB experts in radioactivity with international experience: Dr. Svetozar Musić, Dr. Tomislav Šmuc, Dr. Marijan Ahel, and Mr. Branko Vekić. The committee, in its opinion on the contract being concluded between the IRB and the DZZZ, emphasized: ‘The contract, which would obligate the Institute to store all radioactive waste from the area of Croatia for a longer term, is unacceptable due to the constant increase in risk that would arise with the increase in the quantity of stored material, emphasizing that the PSRM of the IRB is located in a very unfavorable location (densely populated, seismic area) for the disposal of larger quantities of hazardous materials.’
