The first meeting of the international commission, initiated by the Russian Academy of Sciences with the membership of French, Swedish, Finnish, German, British, Norwegian and Russian experts, was held in Moscow, on 31 January 2018. The Commission concluded that there were no health effects for the population in the countries involved. The modelling calculations performed in different countries are consistent with each other, though there are too many uncertainties to make conclusions about the location of the Ru source. Since not only ruthenium 106, but also 103 isotopes have been measured in some countries, the hypothesis on the “medical” origin of Ru-106 (as a source for medical therapy) was excluded and the origin from fresh spent fuel was suggested.
The VVER group of the OECD NEA's Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP) is a professional forum for the nuclear authorities of countries involved in the construction of new Russian VVER type nuclear power plant units. The 9th meeting of the Technical Expert Subgroup on Reactor Pressure Vessel and Primary Circuit took place at the end of January. Participants of the meeting discussed topics arising from the new units of Russian design from the national authorities' point of view.