Implementing 'Continuous Improvement' in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Decommissioning Program
- United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555 (United States)
The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (US NRC's) comprehensive decommissioning program encompasses the decommissioning of all US NRC licensed facilities, ranging from the termination of routine licenses for sealed sources, to the closure of complex materials sites and nuclear power reactor facilities. Of the approximately 200 materials licenses that are terminated each year, most are routine and require little, if any, remediation to meet the US NRC unrestricted release criteria. However, some present technical and policy challenges that require large expenditures of resources, including a few complex materials sites that have requested license termination under the restricted-use provisions of 10 CFR 20.1403. Fiscal constraints to reduce budgeted resources in the decommissioning program, as well as concerns over the time to complete the decommissioning process have led to actions to improve the program and use resources more efficiently. In addition, the US NRC's Strategic Plan requires efforts to identify and implement improvements to US NRC programs in order to improve efficiency, effectiveness, timeliness, and openness, of the US NRC's activities, while maintaining the necessary focus on safety. Decommissioning regulations, and more recently the analysis of several issues associated with implementing those regulations, also have been significant catalysts for improvements in the decommissioning program. Actions in response to these catalysts have resulted in a program focused on the management of complex sites in a comprehensive, consistent, and risk-informed manner, as opposed to the past practice of focusing on sites deemed to be problematic. This paper describes the current status of the decommissioning of US NRC-licensed nuclear facilities, including an overview of recent decommissioning project completion efforts. It provides a detailed summary of past, current, and future improvements in the US NRC decommissioning program including the significant improvements implemented since 2000, and ongoing improvement efforts. Finally, the paper discusses how these efforts have been applied at specific sites and have contributed to the improvement in the decommissioning process at nuclear facilities, typically resulting in a reduction in the length of time needed for the decommissioning project or the reduction in the amount of US NRC and licensee resources necessary to complete a project. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 13023, Tucson, AZ, 85732-3023 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21208709
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-09-WM-06243; TRN: US09V1020079496
- 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; 9 refs
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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