Fiabilitate şi Durabilitate (May 2013)
CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DEVICE FORTHE DECOMMISSIONING OF THE FUEL CHANNELS IN THECANDU NUCLEAR REACTOR
Abstract
As many nuclear power plants are reaching their end of lifecycle, the decommissioning of theseinstallations has become one of the 21stcentury’s great challenges. Each project may be managed differently,depending on the country, development policies, financial considerations, and the availability of qualifiedengineers or specialized companies to handle such projects. The principle objective of decommissioning is toplace a facility into such a condition that there is no unacceptable risk from the decommissioned facility topublic health and safety of the environment. In order to ensure that at the end of its life the risk from a facility iswithin acceptable bounds, action is normally required. The overall decommissioning strategy is todeliver a timely, cost-effective program while maintaining high standards of safety, security and environmentalprotection. If facilities were not decommissioned, they could degrade and potentially present an environmentalradiological hazard in the future. Simply abandoning or leaving a facility after ceasing operations is notconsidered to be an acceptable alternative to decommissioning. The final aim of decommissioning is torecover the geographic site to its original condition.
