Progressive Application Decommissioning Models for U.S. Power and Research Reactors
- Bums and Roe Enterprises, Inc., 800 Kinderkamack Road, Oradell, NJ 07649 (United States)
- ABS Consulting, Inc., 5 Birdsong Court, Shillington, PA 19607 (United States)
This paper presents progressive engineering techniques and experiences in decommissioning projects performed by Bums and Roe Enterprises within the last fifteen years. Specifically, engineering decommissioning technical methods and lessons learned are discussed related to the Trojan Large Component Removal Project, San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) Decommissioning Project and the Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor (BGRR) Decommissioning Project Study. The 25 years since the 1979 TMI accident and the events following 9/11 have driven the nuclear industry away from excessive, closed/elitist conservative methods towards more pragmatic results-oriented and open processes. This includes the essential recognition that codes, standards and regulatory procedures must be efficient, effective and fit for purpose. Financial and open-interactive stakeholder pressures also force adherence to aggressive risk reduction posture in the area of a safety, security and operations. The engineering methods and techniques applied to each project presented unique technical solutions. The decommissioning design for each project had to adopt existing design rules applicable to construction of new nuclear power plants and systems. It was found that the existing ASME, NRC, and DOE codes and regulations for deconstruction were, at best, limited or extremely conservative in their applicability to decommissioning. This paper also suggests some practical modification to design code rules in application for decommissioning and deconstruction. The representative decommissioning projects, Trojan, SONGS and Brookhaven, are discussed separately and the uniqueness of each project, in terms of engineering processes and individual deconstruction steps, is discussed. Trojan Decommissioning. The project included removal of entire NSSS system. The engineering complexity was mainly related to the 1200 MW Reactor. The approach, process of removal, engineering method related to protect the worker against excessive radiation exposure, transportation, and satisfying applicable rules and regulations, were the major problems to overcome. The project's successful completed earned a patent award. SONGS Decommissioning. The reactor's spherical containment and weakened integrity was the scope of this decommissioning effort. The aspects of structure stability and method of deconstruction is the major part of the presentation. The economical process of deconstruction, aspects of structural stability, worker safety, and the protection of the surrounding environment from contamination is highlighted in this section. BGRR Decommissioning Study. BREI was commissioned by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) to evaluate and analyze the stability, and progressive decommissioning, and removal of BGRR components. This analysis took the form of several detailed decommissioning studies that range from disassembly and removal of the unit's graphite pile to the complete environmental restoration of the reactor site. While most of the facility's decommissioning effort is conventional, the graphite pile and its biological shield present the greatest challenge. The studies develop a unique method of removing high-activity waste trapped in the graphite joints. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 13023, Tucson, AZ, 85732-3023 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21208716
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-09-WM-06254; TRN: US09V1027079503
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste Management 2006 Symposium - WM'06 - Global Accomplishments in Environmental and Radioactive Waste Management: Education and Opportunity for the Next Generation of Waste Management Professionals, Tucson, AZ (United States), 26 Feb - 2 Mar 2006; Other Information: Country of input: France; 2 refs
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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