NUCL-5005: Special Topics – Principles of Nuclear Facility Decommissioning

Concepts of
Decommissioning

PMod1
Presenter: Dr. G. Harvel

Note: Additional details provided in Syllabus in CANVAS

- Some images taken from Shutterstock…

Energy Systems
& Nuclear Science
Safety Protocol: At OTU and where ever
you are…
• Fire

• Medical

• Security

Note: Examinable material

2
 Decommissioning
• No revenue generation
– Draw on funds placed in reserve specifically to
decommission.
• Phased approach
– Reduction in hazard by allowing for radiation decay
– Shutdown and Monitor, de-fuel
– Non-essential systems
– Shipment of wastes
– Remaining systems
• Return to Green Site

3
4
 Pickering Today

Frenchman’s Bay

End State??

5
6
7
8
 Definitions
• ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) — the principle
of optimization of protection (ALARA principle): the
likelihood of incurring exposures, the number of people
exposed, and the magnitude of their individual doses
should all be kept as low as reasonably achievable, taking
into account economic and societal factors.
[Source: 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on
Radiological Protection (ICRP Publication 103)]

• Authority having jurisdiction - The organization having

jurisdiction over the design, procurement, fabrication,
installation, testing, operation, inspection, maintenance,
and decommissioning of a nuclear facility.
 Definitions
• Clearance — the removal of radioactive nuclear
substances associated with a facility from further control
by the regulatory authority.
– Conditional clearance — clearance that takes into account the
reasonable exposure routes applicable to the specified fate and
type of the material being considered for exemption.
– Unconditional clearance — clearance that takes into account all
reasonable exposure routes and types of materials, irrespective
of how the material is used and where it might be directed.
• Clearance level — with respect to radioactivity levels, the
maximum permissible concentrations of radioactivity in
or on materials, equipment and sites to be released from
regulatory control (for example, becquerels per gram or
per square centimetre, near-contact dose rates).
 Definitions
• Decommissioning - Those actions taken, in the interest
of health, safety, security, and protection of the
environment to retire a licensed activity/facility
permanently from service and render it to a
predetermined end state condition
• Decontamination — the complete or partial removal of
contamination by a deliberate physical, chemical, or
biological process.
• De minimis dose - Level of exposure to ionizing radiation
considered to pose a negligible or trivial risk to humans
and where the expenditure of additional resources to
further mitigate that risk is not justifiable
 Definitions
• Decommissioning plan — a plan describing how a facility
or site will be decommissioned.
• Detailed decommissioning plan (DDP) — a plan that
specifies the detailed work program, safety and
environmental protection procedures, and management
systems to be followed in the decommissioning of a
facility/activity.
• Preliminary decommissioning plan (PDP) — An overview
of a proposed decommissioning approach that is
sufficiently detailed to assure that the proposed
approach is, in the light of existing knowledge, technically
and financially feasible and appropriate in the interests of
health, safety, security and protection of the
environment.
 Definitions
• End-state (final or interim) - The proposed physical,
chemical, and radiological condition of the facility at the
end of the decommissioning program. Interim is used
when there are discrete phases
• Financial guarantee - The establishment and
maintenance of a financial arrangement that will assure
adequate funding of the decommissioning program
 Definitions
• Hazardous substance — a substance or waste, other than a
nuclear substance, that can pose a risk to the environment
or the health and safety of persons.
• In situ — in place (i.e., not moved).
• Institutional control — Control of a radioactive waste site by
an authority or institution designated under the laws of
a State. This control may be active ( monitoring, surveillance, remedial
work) or passive (land use control) and may be a factor in the design of
facility
• Life-cycle planning - A planning process for
decommissioning that begins in the design and construction
phases of a facility, remains responsive to new information
obtained during operations, and culminates in a detailed
plan for CNSC approval at the end of operations. Remains
flexible and adaptive to conditions encountered during the actual
decommissioning process
 Definitions
• Nuclear activity — any activity that involves nuclear
substance(s) as defined in the Nuclear Safety and Control Act.
• Nuclear facility — a business that includes uranium mining,
uranium milling, uranium processing, fuel manufacturing,
power production using a reactor, research using a reactor,
particle acceleration, isotope processing, radioactive waste
management, and radioactive waste facilities.
• Nuclear site — the immediate area containing the nuclear
facility including the exclusion zone and under the control of
the operating organization.
 Definitions
• Nuclear substance — material that is:
a) deuterium, thorium, uranium, or an element with an atomic
number greater than 92;
b) a derivative or compound of deuterium, thorium, uranium, or
an element with an atomic number greater than 92;
c) a radioactive nuclide;
d) a substance that is prescribed* as being capable of releasing
nuclear energy or as being required for the production or
use of nuclear energy;
e) a radioactive by-product of the development, production, or
use of nuclear energy; and
f) a radioactive substance or radioactive thing that is used for
the development or production of, or in connection with the
use of, nuclear energy.
 Definitions
• Planning envelope — a definable part or area of a
facility that is sufficiently removed from, or otherwise
independent of, other parts or areas such that the
strategic approach to decommissioning that part or
area can be planned in a relatively independent
manner.
 Definitions
• Radioactive material — a material (solid, liquid, or gaseous)
that contains a radioactive nuclear substance as defined in the
Nuclear Safety and Control Act.
• Radioactive waste — a gas, liquid, sludge, or solid containing a
nuclear substance in excess of the clearance or exemption
criteria and without foreseeable use.
• Notes:
• (1) Radioactive waste can contain non-radioactive hazardous
substances as defined in General Nuclear Safety and Control
Regulations.
• (2) CSA N292.0 specifies a classification system for radioactive
wastes.
• Rehabilitate — to bring to an acceptable interim or final end-
state.
 Definitions
• Safeguards — systems and information for nuclear material control that
are associated with ensuring compliance with obligations pursuant to
international safeguards and non-proliferation agreement.
• Storage with Surveillance - Planned stage during a decommissioning
program where the remaining contaminated materials, equipment and
site is placed under a controlled monitoring for a specified period of
time.
• TENORM (technologically enhanced, naturally occurring radioactive
material) — a naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) that is
concentrated as a result of a technological process unrelated to the
production, development, or use of nuclear energy.
• Work breakdown structure (WBS) — a hierarchical description of a
project in terms of defined work packages with planned outcomes that
collectively represent the entire scope of the project
• Work Package
– A logical grouping of relatively contiguous decommissioning tasks
aimed at achieving a particular step in the overall decommissioning
project
– Work packages form the basis of the decommissioning cost
estimates and the preliminary concept and detailed schedules
 Decommissioning Cycle

From CSA N294 NPD DP G2

WR-1 G1 Pickering
 Types of Facilities that may
require Decommissioning
• Uranium mining and milling facilities
• Fuel fabrication facilities
• Research reactors
• Power reactors
• Naval vessels
• Hot cell facilities
• Fuel enrichment/reprocessing facilities
• Waste management facilities
21
 Types of Facilities that may
require Decommissioning
• Waste Management, refurbishment,
treatment and disposal facilities
• Other Facilities
– Medical facilities, scrap metal sites, landfills
(historical)
– Sealed sources, NORM/TENORM sites
– Storage, disposal, maintenance

22
 Why Decommission?
• Reached End of Life

• Reached End of Mission

• Government Decisions

• Accidents

23
 Decommissioning Strategies
• Mothballing
• Prompt Decontamination
• Immediate Dismantling
• Deferred Dismantling (Safe Storage an
Surveillance)
• Entombment (In-Situ)
• License to Abandon
• Release for unrestricted use or restricted
conditions
24
 Decommissioning Process
• Who talks to whom:
– Who are the stakeholders?
• Plan Plan Plan
• What is the scope?
– Knowledge, Planning and Management, Surveys,
Decontamination, Dismantling, Waste Shipment,
Restoration of site, Licensing work
• The above will change depending upon the
project

25
 Stakeholders
The obvious ones….

26
 Stakeholders
The not so obvious…

27
 Planning
• World experience has demonstrated that
successful planning leads to:
– Faster completion
– Lower cost
– Safer work
• Decommissioning planning is expected to
start when you decide to build the facility
and is expected to become more detailed as
you approach the final shutdown dates

28
 The Scope: Knowledge
Facility layout

Historical Data

Knowledge Management

29
 The Scope: Surveys/Characterization
CHARACTERIZATION CSA
N292
Origin, criticality;
chemical properties and
composition;
solubility;
Radiation surveys potential chemical hazard;
combustibility and flammability;
gas generation; Component Surveys
size, volume, and weight;
compactability;
dispersibility;
Hazard Surveys volatility

30
 The Scope: Decontamination
Wash it
Clean up

31
 The Scope: Dismantling
Rack ‘em, Pack ‘em, Stack ‘em

Cut it all up

Removal of hazards, and all components

32
 The Scope: Waste Shipment
Choosing the right package

Choosing the right destination

Choosing an acceptable route

33
 The Scope: Site Restoration
Obtaining the End State

Put back the trees

Restore the Habitat

34
 The Scope: Licensing Work
Demonstration of Regulatory Compliance

Demonstration of Plan Completion

Release of License

35
 Safe Storage vs. Dismantle
Safe Storage and Surveillance is a period where the facility mostly waits
for the right time to decommission

PROS CONS
Decommissioning Plant continues to age
fund increases SO
Some hazards get worse WHERE IS
Radiation Levels – leaks THE
decrease
BALANCE
Public opinion does not
Can wait for plan to ???
necessarily improve
be optimal
May be costs to waiting
Can wait for
resources to be
optimal

36
And that is why we need a plan …..

37
What did we learn?
• High level issues of Decommissioning
such as end state and stakeholders
• Preliminary planning and scoping
information

HAVE FUN!!!

38