Lessons Learned... and Not Learned: A Case Study in Regulatory Evolution
- ABB Inc., 2000 Day Hill Road, Windsor, CT 06095 (United States)
- TLG Services/Entergy, 148 New Milford Road East, Bridgewater, CT 06752 (United States)
'Are you better off than you were four years ago?' 'You've come a long way, baby.' Eschewing politics and advertising, these idioms are applied to the evolution of regulatory processes for Decontamination and Decommissioning (D and D) of nuclear facilities. We use a case study of a (nearly) completed D and D project at a large nuclear fuel manufacturing facility, to chronicle one licensee's experience with US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) D and D regulations from the 1990's to the present. Historical milestones include the birth of a D and D project, a false start and resultant consequences, a D and D 'moratorium' with subsequent planning and stakeholder integration, a second start which included the challenge of parallel path D and D physical work and regulatory processes, and the 'lessons learned' contributions to timely project progress. Further discussion includes a look at the 'declaration of victory' and examines what it really means to be finished. The rich contextual experience from the case study and the observations of other industry members provides the basis for answers to several key questions: How far has the regulatory process for D and D really evolved, and in what direction? Are licensees generally satisfied or dissatisfied with the methods? What has not improved? Which improvements looked promising, but languished in recent years? How far have we really come and are we better off? What are the opportunities for further improvement? The summary answer to each question, using compendious engineering terms is... 'it depends'. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 13023, Tucson, AZ, 85732-3023 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21210740
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-09-WM-06491; TRN: US09V1168081202
- 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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