When a plant shuts down: The psychology of decommissioning
- Nuclear Behavioral Sciences Group of Applied Behavioral Sciences, Englewood, CO (United States)
Within the next decade, 10 to 25 nuclear plants in the United States may be taken off line. Many will have reached the end of their 40-year life cycles, but others will be retired because the cost of operating them has begun to outweigh their economic benefit. Such was the case at Fort St. Vrain, the first decommissioning of a US commercial plant under new Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations. Two major problems associated with decommissioning plants have been obvious: (1) the technical challenges and costs of decommissioning, and (2) the cost of maintaining and finally decommissioning a plant after a safe storage (SAFSTOR) period of approximately 60 years. What has received little attention is the challenge that affects not only the people who make a plant work, but the quality of the solutions to these problems: how to maintain effective organizational performance during the process of downsizing and decommissioning and/or SAFSTOR. The quality of technical solutions for closing a plant, as well as how successfully the decommissioning process is held within or below budget, will depend largely on how effectively the nuclear organization functions as a social unit. Technical and people issues are bound together. The difficulty is how to operate a plant effectively when plant personnel have no sense of long-term security. As the nuclear power industry matures and the pace for closing operating plants accelerates, the time has come to prepare for the widespread decommissioning of plants. The industry would be well served by conducting a selective, industry-wide evaluation of plants to assess its overall readiness for the decommissioning process. A decommissioning is not likely to be trouble free, but with a healthy appreciation for the human side of the process, it will undoubtedly go more smoothly than if approached as a matter of dismantling a machine.
- OSTI ID:
- 6001299
- Journal Information:
- Public Utilities Fortnightly; (United States), Vol. 131:13; ISSN 0033-3808
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
POLICY AND ECONOMY
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
REACTOR DECOMMISSIONING
HUMAN FACTORS
PSYCHOLOGY
REACTOR OPERATION
EFFICIENCY
PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
DECOMMISSIONING
MANAGEMENT
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
OPERATION
POWER PLANTS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
290600* - Energy Planning & Policy- Nuclear Energy