Waste Technology Section
International Decommissioning Network (IDN)
New Stuff
Announcements
Strategy for Prioritization of Iraqi Former Nuclear Sites Decommissioning will be discussed in a paper to be given at the Avignon D&D conference - click here for abstract. For complete information on the Avignon International Conference on decommissioning, dismantling, decontamination, and reutilization, check out their website HERE
CEA (France) – Video Demonstrations
Dismantling RM2 (Radio-Metallurgy Laboratory): This facility was built in the late 60ÿs to carry out destructive examinations of samples of irradiated fuel, very rich in plutonium and was in operation from 1967 to 1983. The aim was to extract the fuel from its protective covering, cut it into strips and put them through various tests. The decommissioning objective was to reduce the installation to its initial state. A world first! The operation was carried out in two stages: first, from 1990 to 1996, it was cleaned and radioactivity removed and then dismantled. In the video these two procedures can be seen in detail. Decision has been taken to demolish the civil works of all the concrete cells, this work will start in 2008. Download Video
Dismantling The Oris Cells 22, 23 and 24 : These cells were the prototypes for industrial production of sources. They were built in the mid 60`s and remained in use until 1972. They produced Cesium 137 and Strontium 90 sources. One of the challenges shown in this tape is that these cells covered a surface area of some 150m2 on an active production site. They were shut down in 1973 and taken permanently out of service in 1987 and remained in disuse until 1987 when a cleaning campaign was launched to dismantle the effluent storage tanks located under the cells. The team encountered various problems such as finding a high level of radioactivity inside the enclosures which restricted the dismantling operatorsÿ access. Another issue addressed in the tape is that the work area, located inside the production site, could not interfere with the work of the staff located nearby, during the evacuation of the waste and decontamination of the inside of the enclosures. The dismantling was completed in 1994.
Download Video
Credits: These video demonstrations were produced by the French Atomic Energy Commission, Nuclear Energy Directorate, Clean-up Directorate and made available by the CEA to the IAEA for information purposes. Many thanks to Jean-Guy Nokhamzon of the CEA for locating these very useful videos!
ENRESA (Spain) agrees to host an inaugural activity in the frame of the International Decommissioning Network.
Consistent with the "spirit" of the IDN, which seeks to encourage Centres of Excellence in Decommissioning to share their skills and experience with those who need to apply it, ENRESA will provide its facilites and experts "cost free" to the IAEA. This event will take the form of a workshop on materials management and clearance involving equipment demonstrations and opportunities for hands-on learning at ENRESA's facilities near Barcelona and Madrid.
UPDATE! We have had to postpone the workshop referred to above, which regrettably cannot be held as planned from 16-20 June 2008. The necessary legal documentation between Spain and the IAEA, which is required to authorize TC support for participants from developing Member States, could not be completed in time to keep to the original schedule.
Nevertheless, recognizing the importance placed on this event, we will explore options for a new arrangement to offer training in materials management and clearance that was the subject of the workshop to qualified candidates from Member States. At this time, we are looking into October, but the exact dates can only be confirmed when a solution is found"
Click HERE for the Prospectus
Click HERE for the Agenda
Miscellaneous
Dr. Axel Bäcker (EWN, Germany) has offered to take us through the difficult manpower transition issues associated with decommissioning on the Greifswald NPP with his presentation on: Social aspects of decommissioning - Workforce redeployment for decommissioning . Please look at these and email Ms. Andressa Junger if you would like to take part in a teleconference on this topic.
A comparison of laser-cutting techniques and their performance seen in Japan As provided by Dr. Satoshi Yanagihara, JAEA Lasercutting.pdf
Interesting facts and comparisons regarding laser-cutting, with thanks to Andrew Szilagyi http://www.teskolaser.com/waterjet_cutting.html
The "Brochure" showing the overall decommissioning activities of the Agency at a glance
Decommissioning documents available from the AgencyMatrix that shows the correspondence between common decommissioning topics and the Agency decommissioning documents (Very much still a work in progress but useful for planning)
Considerations in dismantlement of the ASTRA biological shield
(Preliminary input to a CRP by Dr Franz Meyer, Seibersdorf.)
Note: this short paper provides a "top to bottom" discussion of The dismantlement of the ASTRA shield – a great "overview"