Nuclear decommissioning

Nuclear decommissioning is the process whereby a nuclear power plant site is dismantled to the point that it no longer requires measures for radiation protection. The presence of radioactive material necessitates processes that are occupationally dangerous, hazardous to the natural environment, expensive, and time-intensive.

Decommissioning is an administrative and technical process. It includes clean-up of radioactive materials and progressive demolition of the plant. Once a facility is fully decommissioned, no radiologic danger should persist. The costs of decommissioning are spread over the lifetime of a facility and saved in a decommissioning fund. After a facility has been completely decommissioned, it is released from regulatory control and the plant licensee is no longer responsible for its nuclear safety. Decommissioning may proceed all the way to "greenfield" status.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has defined three options for decommissioning:

A wide range of nuclear facilities have been decommissioned so far. This includes nuclear power plants (NPPs), research reactors, isotope production plants, particle accelerators, and uranium mines. The number of decommissioned power plants is small. Companies specialize in nuclear decommissioning; decommissioning has become a profitable business. More recently, construction and demolition companies in the UK have also begun to develop nuclear decommissioning services. The current estimate by the United Kingdom's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is that it will cost at least £100 billion to decommission the 19 existing United Kingdom nuclear sites. Due to the radioactivity in the reactor structure, decommissioning takes place in stages. The plans of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority for decommissioning reactors have an average 50-year time frame. The long time frame makes reliable cost estimates difficult. Cost overruns are common even for quick projects.

Most nuclear plants currently operating in the United States were designed for a life of about 30–40 years and are licensed to operate for 40 years by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The average age of these reactors is 32 years. Many are coming to the end of their licensing period. If their licenses are not renewed, the plants must go through a decontamination and decommissioning process.

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