Beta-M

Design

The Beta-M contains a core made up of strontium-90, which has a half-life of 28.79 years. The service life of these generators is initially 10 years, and can be extended for another 5 to 10 years. The core is also known as radioisotope heat source 90 (RHS-90). In its initial state after manufacture, the generator is capable of generating 10 watts of electricity. The generator contains the strontium-90 radioisotope, with a heating power of 250W and 1,480 TBq of radioactivity – equivalent to some 280 g of Sr-90. Mass-scale production of RTGs in the Soviet Union was the responsibility of a plant called Baltiyets, in Narva, Estonia.

Safety incidents

Some Beta-M generators have been subject to incidents of vandalism when scavengers disassembled the units while searching for non-ferrous metals. In December 2001 a radiological accident occurred when three residents of Lia, Georgia found parts of an abandoned Beta-M in the forest while collecting firewood. The three suffered burns and symptoms of acute radiation syndrome as a result of their exposure to the strontium-90 contained in the Beta-M. The disposal team that removed the radiation sources consisted of 25 men who were restricted to 40 seconds' worth of exposure each while transferring the canisters to lead-lined drums.

Recovery efforts

It's estimated that over 1,000 (potentially upwards of 2,500 but that appears unsubstantiated) Beta-M RTGs were initially produced and deployed by the Soviet Union, though they have been left mostly abandoned since the USSR collapsed. In order to reduce the risk of nuclear waste getting into the hands of the public or terrorist groups, the United States and European Union partnered with Russia to reacquire and disassemble these abandoned RTGs, collecting hundreds to be processed at the Mayak nuclear processing plant. Over 200 lighthouses and beacons that still required power had their power sources replaced with solar batteries. Despite efforts, dozens or even hundreds of Beta-M RTGs are estimated to still remain unaccounted for, unrecorded, or otherwise untouched in the Russian wilderness. Only 482 were recovered before the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, which caused international cooperation on the task to fall apart.(how many were collected after and by who?)

References

References

1. Kudrik, Igor. (17 November 2003). "Two strontium powered lighthouses vandalised on the Kola Peninsula".
2. (9 July 2015). "Antarctica Radiological Source Removals - Complex US-Russian Cooperative Effort".
3. Mahaffey. (6 June 2017). "Atomic Adventures: Secret Islands, Forgotten N-Rays, and Isotopic Murder: A Journey into the Wild World of Nuclear Science". [[Simon & Schuster]].
4. [https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/PDF/Pub1660web-81061875.pdf The radiological accident in Lia, Georgia] iaea.org
5. "Operation of radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG) at sea transport objects of the Russian Federationa and their decommissioning". [[International Atomic Energy Agency]].
6. (6 May 2006). "Strategic Management of Marine Ecosystems: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Strategic Management of Marine Ecosystems, Nice, France, 1-11 October, 2003". Springer Science & Business Media.
7. (25 February 2003). "NOVA | Transcript | Dirty Bomb".
8. Marquis, Erin. (16 June 2023). "USSR Sprinkled More Than 2,500 Nuclear Generators Across The Countryside".
9. (2014). "Results of Ten Years of Successful Russian-American Cooperation in the Decommissioning of Russian Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs)".