Perspective on decommissioning based on experience at Fort St. Vrain
Decommissioning of commercial nuclear power plants in the United States has begun with the current dismantling of the Fort St. Vrain nuclear generation station in Colorado. Owned and operated by Public Service Company of Colorado (PSC), the unit was permanently shut down in 1989. After a thorough evaluation by the utility of the DECON versus SAFSTOR options, the decision was made to proceed with decommissioning the power station for unrestricted release. In 1990, a team comprised of Westinghouse Electric Corporation and Morrison Knudsen Corporation was selected by PSC to perform the decommissioning on a fixed-price, turnkey basis. The Westinghouse team concept was based on an innovative approach for dismantling the prestressed concrete reactor vessel (PCRV) by flooding it and performing most operations using underwater tooling. This approach provided the maximum shielding and contamination control along with an optimum balance of schedule, cost, and as-low-as-is-reasonably-achievable (ALARA) radiation levels with minimum risks. In making the decision to use DECON or SAFSTOR, an overview of the decommissioning progress to date and overall perspectives of the factors facing utilities in this area will be reviewed.
- OSTI ID:
- 76049
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-940602--
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 70; ISSN 0003-018X; ISSN TANSAO
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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