Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities

Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities GRS - S - 52 ISBN 978-3-939355-47-8 Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities Contents 1 Introduction The decommissioning of nuclear facilities is a challenge which the nuclear 1 Introduction 3 countries will need to address. According to information of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of 2011, more than 500 reactors and about 2 Overview 4 275 nuclear fuel cycle facilities have been finally shut down until now. 2.1 Power and prototype reactors 6 2.2 Research reactors 8 After the end of their operational life, nuclear power plants cannot be left to 2.3 Nuclear fuel cycle facilities 9 their own. Since they still may pose a hazard, they have to be decommissioned in an orderly manner to protect man and the environment. The term 3 Decommissioning strategies 10 »decommissioning« refers to all measures carried out after granting of a decommissioning licence for a nuclear facility until official supervision i. e. 4 Step-wise dismantling of a nuclear power plant 12 nuclear regulatory supervision, is no longer necessary. This usually implies removal of all parts of the building and restoration of the site to its original 5 Licensing and supervisory procedures 14 condition in form of the so-called »green field«, as for example in the case 5.1 Legal framework 14 of the Niederaichbach nuclear power plant (u Fig. 1). 5.2 Licensing procedure 15 5.3 Supervisory procedure 15 6 Safety and radiation protection 16 6.1 Safety considerations 16 6.2 Radiation protection 18 6.3 Reportable events 19 7 Techniques 20 7.1 Decontamination techniques 20 7.2 Dismantling and disassembly techniques 22 7.3 Alternatives to on-site disassembly 23 8 Residue and waste management 24 8.1 Clearance 24 8.2 Decay storage 26 8.3 Radioactive waste 27 9 The costs 28 9.1 Costs borne by the power utilities 28 9.2 Costs borne by the public 28 9.3 Total costs 28 Imprint 10 International provisions 29 10.1 Convention on spent fuel and nuclear waste management 29 Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) mbH 10.2 IAEA 29 10.3 OECD/NEA 29 Authors: Thorsten Stahl, Erik Strub, GRS 10.4 EU 29 Translation: Erika Schild, GRS 10.5 WENRA 29 Graphical editor: Vivian Scheithe, GRS Layout: Lengowski und Partner, Köln 11 Summary and outlook 30 Typesetting/printing: Media Cologne Kommunikationsmedien GmbH, Hürth 12 Annex 30 This document is a translation of the brochure »Stilllegung kerntechnischer 12.1 List on decommissioning of nuclear facilities in Germany 30 Anlagen« prepared by GRS on behalf of the BMU within the framework 12.2 Outline of selected decommissioning projects 32 of project 3610R03400. In case of discrepancies the German text shall prevail. 13 Glossary 36 Fig. 1: Dismantling of the Niederaichbach nuclear power plant 14 Photo credits 39 May 2012 2 3 Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities 2 Overview SUR-KI KGR In mid-2011, 16 nuclear power plants (power and prototype reactors) have The map in u Fig. 3 gives an overview of the facilities under decommis- Nuclear power plants and prototype reactors AVR Jülich experimental reactor been in different stages of decommissioning in Germany. In 2011, another sioning in Germany in mid-2011, or already dismantled completely. In SUR-HH HDR Großwelzheim superheated steam reactor KKS KGR Greifswald nuclear power plant (5 units) eight reactors were fi nally shut down and decommissioning will commence addition to the power and prototype reactors, these are research reactors KKN Niederaichbach nuclear power plant FRG-2 KKR Rheinsberg nuclear power plant in the next years. The remaining nine plants will be fi nally shut down in a and nuclear fuel cycle facilities. Not shown are facilities fi nally shut down, ANEX KKS Stade nuclear power plant stepwise process until 2022 due to the amendment of the Atomic Energy but not having been granted a decommissioning licence yet. OH KMK Mülheim-Kärlich nuclear power plant SUR-HB KKR KNK-II Karlsruhe compact sodium-cooled nuclear reactor KRB-A Gundremmingen nuclear power plant, Unit A Act of July 2011; one plant each by the end of 2015, 2017 and 2019 and KWL Lingen nuclear power plant KWO Obrigheim nuclear power plant another three plants until the end of 2021 and 2022. These plants will also KWW Würgassen nuclear power plant u Annex, Page 30). KWL SUR-B BER-I MZFR Karlsruhe multi-purpose research reactor be decommissioned after their fi nal shutdown ( THTR-300 Hamm-Uentrop thorium high-temperature nuclear reactor FRH VAK Kahl experimental nuclear power plant FMRB More than 30 research reactors of different size and more than 10 nuclear Research reactors fuel cycle facilities were fi nally shut down and were or will be decommis- ADIBKA L77A laboratory reactor ANEX Facility for zero power experiments sioned. At the site of the Greifswald nuclear power plant (KGR), Europe’s KWW BER-I Berlin experimental reactor 1 THTR-300 FMRB Braunschweig research and measuring reactor largest decommissioning project is being undertaken (u Fig. 2). FR-2 Karlsruhe, research reactor 2 FRF-1 Frankfurt research reactor 1 FRF-2 Frankfurt, research reactor 2 FRH Research reactor of the Hannover Medical School AVR RFR JUPITER ZLFR FRG-2 Geesthacht research reactor 2 FRJ-1 Jülich research reactor 1 (MERLIN) AMOR FRJ-2 Jülich research reactor 2 (DIDO) RRR FRM München research reactor ADIBKA FRJ-2 RAKE FRN Neuherberg research reactor FRJ-1 HOBEG KAHTER Critical facility with pebbly-type fuel for high temperature reactors KAHTER SBH-URAN KEITER In-core thermionic reactor critical experiments KEITER NUKEM-A SBH-MOX Leistungs-/ PrototypreaktorOH in StilllegungOtto Hahn nuclear ship KMK FRF-1 PR-10 PR-10 AEG test reactor Karlstein VAK Leistungs-/ Prototypreaktor,RAKE stillgelegtRossendorf assembly for critical experiments II FRF-2 TKA RFR Rossendorf research reactor Forschungsreaktor inRRR Stilllegung Rossendorf ring zone reactor SUR-DA SAR Siemens Argonaut reactor München SPGK SBWK Forschungsreaktor, stillgelegtSNEAK Karlsruhe fast zero energy assembly HDR STARK Karlsruhe fast-thermal Argonaut reactor TRIGA HD I Anlage der Ver- und SUAKEntsorgung Karlsruhe in Stilllegung fast subcritical assembly TRIGA HD II SUA Siemens subcritical assembly München KWO Anlage der Ver- und SUR-BEntsorgung, Siemens stillgelegt training reactor Berlin Fig. 2: Site of the Greifswald nuclear power plant SUR-DA Siemens training reactor Darmstadt KNK-II WAK MILLI SUR-HB Siemens training reactor Bremen MZFR PUTE SUR-HH Siemens training reactor Hamburg SUR-KA Siemens training reactor Karlsruhe SUR-KI Siemens training reactor Kiel FR-2 SNEAK KKN SUR-M Siemens training reactor München STARK TKA AEG Zero power reactor / thermal-critical assembly SUR-KA KRB-A TRIGA HD I Heidelberg research reactor TRIGA I SUAK TRIGA HD II Heidelberg research reactor TRIGA II FRN ZFLR Zittau training and research reactor FRM SAR SUA Nuclear fuel cycle facilities 2010_stl_01 SUR-M AMOR I-III Rossendorf facility for the production of Mo-99 HOBEG Hanau fuel fabrication plant for high-temperature reactors JUPITER Jülich pilot plant for thorium element reprocessing MILLI Karlsruhe milliton-scale reprocessing facility NUKEM-A NUKEM-A fuel fabrication plant PUTE Karlsruhe plutonium test extraction SBH-MOX Siemens fuel fabrication plant Hanau; MOX section SBH-Uran Siemens fuel fabrication plant Hanau; uranium section SBWK Siemens fuel fabrication plant Hanau; Karlstein site Power / prototype reactor under decommissioning Research reactor under decommissioning Nuclear fuel cycle facility under decommissioning SPGK Siemens Power Generation Karlstein Power / prototype reactor decommissioned Research reactor decommissioned Nuclear fuel cycle facility decommissioned WAK Karlsruhe reprocessing plant Fig. 3: Nuclear facilities decommissioned and under decommissioning in Germany. Not shown are facilities ﬁ nally shut down, but not having been granted a decommissioning licence yet. In the course of the various decommissioning projects it turns out that • Research reactors, prototype reactors for electricity production and each project is actually carried out individually. The course of the project, prototype nuclear fuel cycle facilities are, on the other hand, established its fi nancing, the choice of decommissioning strategy and many other at research centres or universities. They are fi nanced publicly. The de- conditions strongly depend on the type of facility and on the owner commissioning of the Greifswald and Rheinsberg nuclear power plants (u Financing, Page 28): of the former GDR is fi nanced from the federal budget, just like the decommissioning and remediation of the uranium mining and proces- • Power reactors and plants for uranium enrichment and fuel fabrication sing facilities of the »Wismut« in Saxony and Thuringia. The following belong to the power utilities and the companies operating in this sector. sections explain the decommissioning processes for different types of facilities. 4 5 Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities 2.1 Power and prototype reactors Nuclear power plants (power and prototype reactors) convert the energy In Germany, two different types of nuclear power plants are being So far, three nuclear power plants have been completely dismantled: the Experience has shown that decommissioning of a power or prototype content of nuclear fuel (in the so-called fuel assemblies) into electrical operated, i. e. boiling water and pressurised water reactors. As shown Niederaichbach nuclear power plant (KKN), the Großwelzheim superheated reactor will take about 10 to 20 years, while the amount of waste can differ energy. In a controlled chain reaction, heat is generated by nuclear fi ssion. in u Fig. 4 und 5, both types use water as a coolant, but they differ, steam reactor (HDR) and the Kahl experimental nuclear power plant (VAK). signifi cantly (u Residue and waste management, Page 24). This heat is absorbed by a water circuit and is converted there into steam among other things, in the structure of the cooling circuit. The fi rst two plants are prototype reactors, whose development was not that drives turbines.

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