The 1989-1983 European Communities R&D Programme on Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations was adopted by the EC Council in March 1989 [5] to find "effective solutions which are capable of ensuring the safety and protection of both mankind and its environment against the potential hazards in decommissioning".

As a large number of older nuclear facilities will be taken out of service in the next years, the public, the industry and national regulations are becoming increasingly concerned about the occupational doses, environmental hazards and the costs which could be incurred in the decommissioning of such plants.

The European Community, well aware of these concerns, has since 1978 operated and financed research programmes in this field.

The 1989-1993 programme concerns the following areas:

• A Research and development projects concerning the following subjects:
  • Area n° 1: Long-term integrity of buildings and systems
  • Area n° 2: Decontamination for decommissioning purposes
  • Area n° 3: Dismantling techniques
  • Area n° 4: Treatment of specific waste materials: steel, concrete and graphite
  • Area n° 5: Qualification and adaptation of remote-controlled semi-autonomous manipulator systems
  • Area n° 6: Estimation of the quantities of radioactive wastes arising from decommissioning of nuclear installations in the Community
• B Identification of guiding principles relating to:
  • the design and operation of nuclear installations with a view to simplifying their subsequent decommissioning,
  • the decommissioning operations with a view to making occupational radiation exposure as low as reasonably achievable,
  • the technical elements of a Community policy in this field.
• C Testing of new techniques in practice:
  • pilot projects,
  • alternative tests,
  • staff secondment.

The research was carried out by public organisations and private firms in the Community under cost sharing contracts with the Commission of the European Communities.

The Programme's budget for the five-year period 1989-1993 amounted to 33.8 million ECU.

In 1993, further funds (5.8 million ECU) were made available to permit continuation of the most important projects during 1994 and 1995. Work on the four pilot dismantling projects therefore continued.

Also during 1993, Part B 'Identification of guiding principles' was completed and the report was due to be published in 1994.

The common action to collect data relevant to cost, occupational doses, working time and waste arisings was then a fully operational part of the programme.

Subjects of the programme

Section A: Research and development projects

Project/Area Nr. 1: Long-term integrity of buildings and systems

It has been proposed that the dismantling of nuclear installations be delayed for periods ranging from several decades to about a hundred years.

Thereupon, the radioactivity having largely died away, dismantling would be easier and the radiation exposure of the dismantling personnel would be less.

The objective of this area is to determine the measures required for maintaining shutdown plants in a safe condition and to assess the radiological consequences of costs.

The research work has been focused on the following main subjects:

• inspection of selected nuclear power plants and examination of materials as they exist therein, in order to determine the mode and pace of degradation;
• methodology studies of the measures necessary for maintaining plants in safe condition and for keeping the necessary ancillary equipment operable.

Research in this area should be pursued with a constant moderate effort, enlarging the data base and exploiting the growing experience, in order to establish confidence in long-term forecasts.

This involves in particular:

• collection of additional experimental data, e.g. repetition of past examinations after a time interval of about five years, in order to determine the rate of degradation and derive or check forecasting rules;
• comparison of confinement methods applied at specific shutdown nuclear installations in Member States;
• assessment of the merits of the Safe Storage option in the decommissioning of nuclear installations other than reactors.

Project/Area Nr. 2: Decontamination for decommissioning purposes

The objective of this research is to develop and assess techniques for decontaminating surfaces of components and structures of nuclear installations that are past use.

The main purpose of decontamination would be reduction of the occupational radiation exposure during dismantling of the contaminated item and / or reduction of the volume of radioactive waste.

The following decontamination techniques have been developed and assessed:

• techniques using aggressive agents in liquid and gel-like form;
• electrochemical techniques using various electrolytes;
• hydromechanical techniques (high-pressure water lance, ultrasound);
• decontamination of concrete surfaces by flame jetting.

Research in 'area n° 2' should be pursued with a reduced effort focused on selected techniques.

As a new subject, "the use of liquid chemical agents carried by a large volume of air, in the form of foam or fog", should be developed with a view to decontaminating large-volume systems.

Thermal techniques for removal of concrete surface layers should be investigated from a more general and fundamental view than in the past.

Project/Area Nr. 3: Dismantling techniques

The objective of this research is the development of the special techniques needed for dismantling the large steel components (e.g. reactor pressure vessel) and reinforced-concrete structures (e.g. reactor shielding) of redundant nuclear installations, account being taken of the particular requirements due to radioactivity.

The following main dismantling techniques were developed and tested:

• thermal techniques such as plasma-arc and oxygen cutting and cutting by laser beam;
• mechanical techniques such as abrasive water jet cutting;
• explosive techniques for the dismantling of concrete structures.

Research in this 'area' should be pursued vigorously with particular respect to the:

• development of the arc-saw technique for cutting thick-walled steel components;
• further development of the electrolytic technique for segmenting thick steel sections;
• comparative assessment of various segmenting techniques with reference to standard cutting tasks;
• full-scale testing of controlled explosive techniques for dismantling of concrete and metal structures.

Project/Area Nr. 4: Treatment of specific waste materials: steel, concrete and graphite

In the dismantling of nuclear installations, large amounts of radioactive metal, concrete and - in the case of gas-cooled reactors - graphite will arise.

This waste must be suitably conditioned for disposal or recycling. The area has been strictly delimited to preclude overlapping with the Community research programme on radioactive waste management.

Research work performed mainly related to:

• the treatment of dismantled material such as steel, copper and brass by melting with a view to:
  • its possible recycling/reuse;
  • the reduction of its volume;
  • its decontamination (e.g., elimination of actinides);
• development and assessment of techniques for coating metal and concrete parts in order to immobilise surface contamination;
• assessment of treatment techniques for radioactive concrete;
• comparative assessment of various modes of treatment and disposal of radioactive graphite: development of a conditioning technique for radioactive graphite bricks for shallow land disposal.

In all these investigations, due attention has been paid to the necessity of adapting treatment techniques to final waste destinations.

Melting of very low-level radioactive steel scrap from Light Water Reactor components, to produce new nuclear components, is already becoming industrial practice and is not expected to need further research.

Further work is required, however, in relation to steel scrap originating from other types of nuclear installation, e.g. alpha-contaminated material, and non-ferrous scrap.

Further development is also needed for concrete and graphite waste, i.e.:

• volume reduction of contaminated / activated concrete;
• metallic coating of graphite parts by ionic deposition to fix radio-nuclides;
• recycling of the reinforcement steel in concrete.

Project/Area Nr. 5: Large containers for radioactive waste produced in the dismantling of nuclear installations - Qualification and adaptation of remote-controlled semi-autonomous manipulator systems

Because of radiation fields, some decommissioning tasks must be performed with "remote control", in order to minimise occupational exposure. This requirement forms a major technical challenge in decommissioning.

The objective of this research is to qualify and adapt remote-controlled semi-autonomous systems for manipulation of decommissioning tools and instruments.

Remote-controlled manipulation systems did not form the subject of a "Project Area" of its own, so far, but limited activities in this field were performed under 'area n°2' (Decontamination) and 'area n°3' (Dismantling techniques).

Remote-controlled semi-autonomous manipulators should be adapted and tested, in order to qualify and improve their performances with typical decommissioning tasks and tools.

For this purpose, existing components and sub-systems should be used and adapted as far as feasible. This concerns in particular sensing systems and computer programmes for semi-autonomous process control, which form important aspects of the research.

Special attention should be paid to highly repetitive time-consuming operations, e.g. decontamination and clearance measurements of large surface areas of premises.

Project/Area Nr. 6: Estimation of the quantities of radioactive wastes arising from the decommissioning of nuclear installations in the Community

The low-level radioactive waste produced in the dismantling of nuclear installations will ultimately constitute a substantial part of the overall volume of radioactive waste generated by nuclear industry.

The objective of this area is to estimate the quantities of various categories of radioactive waste that will arise from the decommissioning of nuclear installations in the Community. This involves the definition of reference strategies for decommissioning and is therefore to be regarded as a long-term task.

Research has been performed in the following main areas:

• estimate of the quantities of radioactive waste arising from the decommissioning of typical nuclear installations, based on analysis of radioactive metal and concrete samples;
• study of strategies for the decommissioning of typical nuclear installations and for the conditioning/management of the radioactive waste arising therefrom;
• characterisation of the radioactivity associated with components and structures of various nuclear installations, with emphasis on long-lived radionuclides; in situ measurement techniques for the localisation and identification of radionuclides, including the case of mixtures of alpha, beta and gamma emitters;
• assessment of residual activity levels below which activated and/or contaminated parts could be reused and corresponding measurement methods.

Radioactivity measuring techniques should be improved/developed with particular regard to clearance procedures for materials, buildings and sites, including the case of mixtures of alpha, beta and gamma emitters. The quality assurance of clearance procedures should also be considered.

Strategies for the decommissioning of typical nuclear installations should be further studied, account being taken of the waste disposal facilities existing or planned in various member countries. Safety being one of the aspects to be considered, a methodology to evaluate the risk of decommissioning operations should be developed.

The evaluation of residual activity levels below which materials from decommissioning could be reused should be pursued, including consideration of statistical aspects.

Section B: Identification of guiding principles

Project/Area Nr. 8: Identification of guiding principles

Section B of the programme is concerned with the identification of guiding principles relating to:

• the design and operation of nuclear installations with a view to simplifying their subsequent decommissioning;
• the decommissioning operations with a view to making occupational radiation exposures as low as reasonably achievable (Alara principle);
• the technical elements of a "Community policy" in this field.

Hereafter, you can reach the projects related to this section.

Section C: Testing of new techniques under real conditions

Project/Area Nr. 9: Testing of New Techniques in Practice

The projects and studies in this section aim at testing, demonstrating and assessing new decommissioning techniques under real conditions of radioactivity configuration, size, accessibility and the state of the plant.

The four large Pilot Dismantling Projects (WAGR/Windscale, BR3/Mol, KRB-A/Gundremmingen and AT1/La Hague) are the focal point of this section.

Large-scale active testing of new techniques is also performed in a number of other dismantling projects ("alternative tests").

Large-scale investigations on various decommissioning techniques (such as decontamination, cutting, activity measurements) were performed in the two previous five-year decommissioning programmes.

These investigations concerned the dismantling of five reactors, three fuel fabrication facilities and one high-level waste vitrification facility.

Section C includes:

• the execution of four pilot dismantling projects;
• alternative large-scale tests to be performed in nuclear installations other than the pilot dismantling projects;
• secondment of scientific staff from Member States to the pilot dismantling projects: the operators of pilot projects receive staff from organizations in the other Member States for active cooperation within the framework of the project;
• development of a data base for costs, operational doses, working times and waste arisings;
• development of a data base for the performance of cutting/segmenting techniques;
• studies to identify further R&D requirements.

In order to permit a continuity of important actions until the next Framework Programme becomes operational, a number of contracts could have been extended to cover 1994.

References

1. The Community's research and development programme on decommissioning of nuclear installations (1989-1993). Annual progress report 1990, EUR 14227.
2. The Community's research and development programme on decommissioning of nuclear installations (1989-1993). Annual progress report 1991, EUR 14498.
3. The Community's research and development programme on decommissioning of nuclear installations (1989-1993). Annual progress report 1992, EUR 15262.
4. The Community's research and development programme on decommissioning of nuclear installations (1989-1993). Annual progress report 1993, EUR 15854.
5. Commission Communication concerning the research programme on the decommissioning of nuclear installations (1989 to 1993). Call for research proposals, OJ N°. C 24, 1991.01.31, p. 8.

List of projects per Project/Work Area

Project/Area n° 1: Long-term Integrity of Buildings and Systems
FI2D-0048	United Kingdom	Examination and long-term assessment of nuclear power structures
FI2D-0088	United Kingdom	Assessment of the long-term integrity of selected nuclear facility buildings and …
Project/Area n° 2: Decontamination for Decommissioning Purposes
FI2D-0016	Italy	On-line decontamination of complex components for unrestricted release, using ultrasonics in a flowing chemical agent
FI2D-0020	Germany	Further development of an easy-to-process electrolyte for electrochemical decontamination of stainless steel
FI2D-0024	Italy	Microwave system for removal of concrete surface layers
FI2D-0035	France	Decontamination of large steel components with foaming chemical agents
FI2D-0043	Italy	Decontamination of a EUREX evaporator using a chemical agent dispersed as fog
FI2D-0054	Germany	Decontamination technique using a chemical agent dispersed as fog
Project/Area n° 3: Dismantling Techniques
FI2D-0007	Germany	Effectiveness and long-term behaviour of cleanable high efficiency aerosol filters
FI2D-0009	Germany	Abrasive water jet cutting: adaptation to remote-control underwater operation; collection and processing of by-product from the stage of laboratory to real application
FI2D-0010	Italy	Steel cutting using linear-shaped explosive charges
FI2D-0013	France	Evaluation of steel cutting techniques: consumable electrode, plasma arc, arc saw, grinding disc, alternating saw. Cutting with more appropriate plasma arc equipment
FI2D-0019	France	Improving underwater thermal cutting techniques and associated remote-control systems. Improving “Contact Arc Metal Cutting, CAMC”
FI2D-0026	United Kingdom	Development of a plasma arc torch and control/monitoring technique for the internal cutting of small bore pipe work
FI2D-0027	United Kingdom	Diamond-armed cables for cutting reinforced concrete with a minimum of water
FI2D-0028	United Kingdom	Experimental assessment of carbon monoxide laser as an improved dismantling tool
FI2D-0036	France	Cutting of CO2 primary circuit pipes of G2-G3 reactors using explosive charges
FI2D-0047	France	Underwater laser cutting of metal structures. YAG laser with optical fibre beam transmission
FI2D-0049	United Kingdom	Optimisation of plasma torch electrode design for nuclear dismantling tasks
FI2D-0089	Italy	Improvement and long-term testing of a manipulator for removing slag, temperature measuring & taking samples during melting
Project/Area n° 4: Treatment of Specific Waste Materials: Steel, Concrete and Graphite
FI2D-0014	Germany	Behaviour and removal of tritium in the industrial-scale melting of steel from nuclear installations
FI2D-0015	The Netherlands	Development of a process for separating radioactive constituents of concrete, including active pilot-scale testing
FI2D-0017	Spain	Conditioning of graphite from nuclear reactors to remove or immobilize the radio-nuclides
FI2D-0021	The Netherlands	Recycling of activated-contaminated metal as aggregate replacement of concrete in new nuclear installations
FI2D-0037	Germany	Recycling of contaminated aluminium and copper scrap by melting
FI2D-0085	The Netherlands	Optimisation & supplementary research on the use of radioactive steel scrap in concrete
Project/Area n° 5: Large Containers for Radioactive Waste Produced in the Dismantling of Nuclear Power plants - Qualification and adaptation of remote-controlled semi-autonomous manipulator systems
FI2D-0006	Italy	Robotic system to dismantle the process cells of the EUREX reprocessing plant
FI2D-0008	Italy	Design, construction and testing of manipulator used during melting of radioactive metal
FI2D-0012	United Kingdom	Development and active demonstration of a telerobotic monitoring, decontamination and size-reduction system (TMDSRS). Development of robotic force control algorithm. Improvement of EDM process
FI2D-0025	United Kingdom	Adaptation and testing of a remotely-controlled underwater vehicle for decommissioning of the Windscale piles
FI2D-0032	Germany	Testing of a long-range teleoperated handling equipment (microwave generator, chisel, core drill, ...)
FI2D-0041	France	Underwater qualification of the RD 500 manipulator. Improvement of safety and efficiency of the system
Project/Area n° 6: Estimation of the Quantities of Radioactive Wastes Arising from the Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations in the Community
FI2D-0030	United Kingdom	Methodology to evaluate radiological risk in decommissioning operations of nuclear plants
FI2D-0031	France	Determination of doses resulting from the reuse of very low-level radioactive steel
FI2D-0033	Germany	Quick measuring methods for radio-nuclides in materials and wastes during decommissioning
FI2D-0039	Germany	Radiological aspects of recycling concrete debris from dismantling of nuclear installations
FI2D-0040	France	Definition of reference exemption levels for concrete from dismantled nuclear installations
FI2D-0042	United Kingdom	Characterisation and determination of radioactive waste from decommissioning including statistical assessment and QA procedures
FI2D-0044	France	Determination of the activity of core structures of the G2-G3 reactor
FI2D-0051	Germany	Decommissioning cost for nuclear installations
FI2D-0055	France	Development of a prototype apparatus visualising on a screen the gamma sources superimposed on the image of the vision field
FI2D-0084	France	Improvement of the prototype ALADIN gamma camera
FI2D-0086	Germany	Measurements of the spatial distribution of contamination on concrete surfaces
FI2D-0087	United Kingdom	Development of decommissioning safety data
Project/Area n° 8: Identification of guiding principles
FI2D-0073	France	Preparation of a decommissioning handbook (1)
FI2D-0074	Italy	Preparation of a decommissioning handbook (2)
FI2D-0075		Preparation of a decommissioning handbook (3)
FI2D-0076	France	Preparation of a decommissioning handbook (4)
FI2D-0077	France	Preparation of a decommissioning handbook (5)
FI2D-0078	United Kingdom	Preparation of a decommissioning handbook (6)
FI2D-0079	Germany	Preparation of a decommissioning handbook (7)
FI2D-0080	Belgium	Preparation of a decommissioning handbook (8)
FI2D-0081	Germany	Preparation of a decommissioning handbook (9)
Project/Area n° 9: Testing of New Techniques in Practice
FI2D-0001	United Kingdom	Pilot dismantling of the Windscale Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor
FI2D-0002	Germany	Assessment of underwater remote operation and segmenting techniques for reactor vessel internals
FI2D-0003	Belgium	Pilot dismantling of the BR3 Pressurised Water Reactor
FI2D-0004	France	Pilot dismantling of the AT1 reprocessing facility
FI2D-0005	Germany	Pilot dismantling of the KRB-A Boiling Water Reactor
FI2D-0011	Denmark	Decontamination and dismantling of the RisØ Hot Cell facility
FI2D-0018	France	Final clean-up of the Piver prototype vitrification facility: decontamination of the hot cell
FI2D-0022	France	Transformation of sodium from the RAPSODIE Fast Breeder Reactor into caustic soda
FI2D-0023	Spain	Decommissioning of the JEN-1 experimental reactor (Phase 1)
FI2D-0029	Germany	Testing of segmenting and remote dismantling techniques on the pressure vessel and internals of the VAK experimental BWR
FI2D-0034	France	Melting of ferritic steel pipes from G2-G3 reactor dismantling. Melting of U-contaminated steel from Pierrelatte
FI2D-0038	Germany	Industrial-scale melting of alpha-contaminated steel scrap. Improvement of melting process by, e.g., new slag former
FI2D-0045	Italy	Secondment of 2 engineers to dismantling of reprocessing plant AT-1, La Hague (F)
FI2D-0046	Germany	Demonstration of explosive dismantling techniques on KKN Niederaichbach biological shield
FI2D-0050	United Kingdom	Decommissioning of the B205 fuel reprocessing pilot plant
FI2D-0052	United Kingdom	Large-scale demonstration of dismantling techniques of the LIDO biological shield
FI2D-0053	Italy	Secondment of an engineer to Pilot Dismantling of KRB-A Boiling Water Reactor at Gundremmingen (D)
FI2D-0056	Germany	Further development of a database on cutting tools and associated filtration systems for dismantling (1)
FI2D-0057	France	Further development of a database on cutting tools and associated filtration systems for dismantling (2)
FI2D-0058	United Kingdom	Further development of a database on cutting tools and associated filtration systems for dismantling (3)
FI2D-0059	Germany	Collection and treatment of data on costs and radiation exposure generated in dismantling work (1)
FI2D-0060	France	Collection and treatment of data on costs and radiation exposure generated in dismantling work (2)
FI2D-0061	United Kingdom	Collection and treatment of data on costs and radiation exposure generated in dismantling work (3)
FI2D-0062	Spain	Decommissioning of the JEN-1 experimental reactor (Phase 2)
FI2D-0063	Germany	Further development and operation of an automated large-scale activity measurement facility for low-level decommissioning waste
FI2D-0064	France	Development of an automatic gel projection device and its application to G2/G3 reactor pipes
FI2D-0065	France	Facility for the large-scale decontamination of alpha-bearing radioactive waste from the
FI2D-0066	Italy	Design, construction and testing of a robotic system (TRR) for the removal of steam generator tubes at Latina
FI2D-0067	Germany	Assessment of decontamination procedures for WWER-PWRs with a view to minimize the generation of waste
FI2D-0068	United Kingdom	Design & manufacturing of tele-operated deployment system based on the 'NEATER' robot & removal of internal equipment from DIDO reactor HAHC. Development of a mobile inspection and monitoring system to work inside ventilation ducts
FI2D-0069	France	In-situ decontamination of the tube bundle from a PWR steam generator and subsequent waste treatment
FI2D-0070	Spain	Secondment of an engineer to Pilot Dismantling Project BR3 at Mol (B)
FI2D-0071	United Kingdom	Decommissioning of the dry granulation plant using machine assistance
FI2D-0072	France	Remotely operated underwater dismantling by plasma arc and cable saw of a structure in a COGEMA storage pond
FI2D-0082	Germany	Survey of decommissioning requirements for WWER Reactors
FI2D-0083	France	Decommissioning & remediation of uranium milling and processing facilities

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