IAEA Nuclear Energy Series No. NW-T-2.9 Basic Decommissioning of Principles Particle Accelerators Objectives Guides Technical Reports @ IAEA NUCLEAR ENERGY SERIES PUBLICATIONS STRUCTURE OF THE IAEA NUCLEAR ENERGY SERIES Under the terms of Articles III.A.3 and VIII.C of its Statute, the IAEA is authorized to “foster the exchange of scientific and technical information on the peaceful uses of atomic energy”. The publications in the IAEA Nuclear Energy Series present good practices and advances in technology, as well as practical examples and experience in the areas of nuclear reactors, the nuclear fuel cycle, radioactive waste management and decommissioning, and on general issues relevant to nuclear energy. The IAEA Nuclear Energy Series is structured into four levels: (1) The Nuclear Energy Basic Principles publication describes the rationale and vision for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. (2) Nuclear Energy Series Objectives publications describe what needs to be considered and the specific goals to be achieved in the subject areas at different stages of implementation. (3) Nuclear Energy Series Guides and Methodologies provide high level guidance or methods on how to achieve the objectives related to the various topics and areas involving the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. (4) Nuclear Energy Series Technical Reports provide additional, more detailed information on activities relating to topics explored in the IAEA Nuclear Energy Series. The IAEA Nuclear Energy Series publications are coded as follows: NG – nuclear energy general; NR – nuclear reactors (formerly NP – nuclear power); NF – nuclear fuel cycle; NW – radioactive waste management and decommissioning. 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DECOMMISSIONING OF PARTICLE ACCELERATORS The following States are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN GERMANY PAKISTAN ALBANIA GHANA PALAU ALGERIA GREECE PANAMA ANGOLA GRENADA PAPUA NEW GUINEA ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA GUATEMALA PARAGUAY ARGENTINA GUYANA PERU ARMENIA HAITI PHILIPPINES AUSTRALIA HOLY SEE POLAND AUSTRIA HONDURAS PORTUGAL AZERBAIJAN HUNGARY QATAR BAHAMAS ICELAND REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA BAHRAIN INDIA BANGLADESH INDONESIA ROMANIA BARBADOS IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION BELARUS IRAQ RWANDA BELGIUM IRELAND SAINT LUCIA BELIZE ISRAEL SAINT VINCENT AND BENIN ITALY THE GRENADINES BOLIVIA, PLURINATIONAL JAMAICA SAN MARINO STATE OF JAPAN SAUDI ARABIA BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA JORDAN SENEGAL BOTSWANA KAZAKHSTAN SERBIA BRAZIL KENYA SEYCHELLES BRUNEI DARUSSALAM KOREA, REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE BULGARIA KUWAIT SINGAPORE BURKINA FASO KYRGYZSTAN SLOVAKIA BURUNDI LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC SLOVENIA CAMBODIA REPUBLIC SOUTH AFRICA CAMEROON LATVIA SPAIN CANADA LEBANON SRI LANKA CENTRAL AFRICAN LESOTHO SUDAN REPUBLIC LIBERIA CHAD LIBYA SWEDEN CHILE LIECHTENSTEIN SWITZERLAND CHINA LITHUANIA SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC COLOMBIA LUXEMBOURG TAJIKISTAN CONGO MADAGASCAR THAILAND COSTA RICA MALAWI TOGO CÔTE D’IVOIRE MALAYSIA TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO CROATIA MALI TUNISIA CUBA MALTA TURKEY CYPRUS MARSHALL ISLANDS TURKMENISTAN CZECH REPUBLIC MAURITANIA UGANDA DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC MAURITIUS UKRAINE OF THE CONGO MEXICO UNITED ARAB EMIRATES DENMARK MONACO UNITED KINGDOM OF DJIBOUTI MONGOLIA GREAT BRITAIN AND DOMINICA MONTENEGRO NORTHERN IRELAND DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MOROCCO UNITED REPUBLIC ECUADOR MOZAMBIQUE OF TANZANIA EGYPT MYANMAR UNITED STATES OF AMERICA EL SALVADOR NAMIBIA ERITREA NEPAL URUGUAY ESTONIA NETHERLANDS UZBEKISTAN ESWATINI NEW ZEALAND VANUATU ETHIOPIA NICARAGUA VENEZUELA, BOLIVARIAN FIJI NIGER REPUBLIC OF FINLAND NIGERIA VIET NAM FRANCE NORTH MACEDONIA YEMEN GABON NORWAY ZAMBIA GEORGIA OMAN ZIMBABWE The Agency’s Statute was approved on 23 October 1956 by the Conference on the Statute of the IAEA held at United Nations Headquarters, New York; it entered into force on 29 July 1957. The Headquarters of the Agency are situated in Vienna. Its principal objective is “to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world’’. IAEA NUCLEAR ENERGY SERIES No. NW-T-2.9 DECOMMISSIONING OF PARTICLE ACCELERATORS INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 2020 COPYRIGHT NOTICE All IAEA scientific and technical publications are protected by the terms of the Universal Copyright Convention as adopted in 1952 (Berne) and as revised in 1972 (Paris). The copyright has since been extended by the World Intellectual Property Organization (Geneva) to include electronic and virtual intellectual property. Permission to use whole or parts of texts contained in IAEA publications in printed or electronic form must be obtained and is usually subject to royalty agreements. Proposals for non-commercial reproductions and translations are welcomed and considered on a case-by-case basis. Enquiries should be addressed to the IAEA Publishing Section at: Marketing and Sales Unit, Publishing Section International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna International Centre PO Box 100 1400 Vienna, Austria fax: +43 1 26007 22529 tel.: +43 1 2600 22417 email: [email protected] www.iaea.org/publications © IAEA, 2020 Printed by the IAEA in Austria August 2020 STI/PUB/1854 IAEA Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Names: International Atomic Energy Agency. Title: Decommissioning of particle accelerators / International Atomic Energy Agency. Description: Vienna : International Atomic Energy Agency, 2020. | Series: IAEA nuclear energy series, ISSN 1995–7807 ; no. NW-T-2.9 | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: IAEAL 20-01338 | ISBN 978–92–0–102419–0 (paperback : alk. paper) | ISBN 978–92–0–109820–7 (pdf) Subjects: LCSH: Particle accelerators. | Nuclear facilities — Decommissioning. | Radiation — Safety measures. Classification: UDC 621.384.6 | STI/PUB/1854 FOREWORD One of the IAEA’s statutory objectives is to “seek to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world.” One way this objective is achieved is through the publication of a range of technical series. Two of these are the IAEA Nuclear Energy Series and the IAEA Safety Standards Series. According to Article III.A.6 of the IAEA Statute, the safety standards establish “standards of safety for protection of health and minimization of danger to life and property”. The safety standards include the Safety Fundamentals, Safety Requirements and Safety Guides. These standards are written primarily in a regulatory style, and are binding on the IAEA for its own programmes. The principal users are the regulatory bodies in Member States and other national authorities. The IAEA Nuclear Energy Series comprises reports designed to encourage and assist R&D on, and application of, nuclear energy for peaceful uses. This includes practical examples to be used by owners and operators of utilities in Member States, implementing organizations, academia, and government officials, among others. This information is presented in guides, reports on technology status and advances, and best practices for peaceful uses of nuclear energy based on inputs from international experts. The IAEA Nuclear Energy Series complements the IAEA Safety Standards Series. The advent of the first particle accelerators was prompted by efforts to study the structure of the atomic nucleus. Development and improvement of this new invention quickly leaped from ‘smashing atoms’ to a multitude of other practical applications. Although the largest and most powerful accelerators are used for high energy particle research, medical and industrial applications have been responsible for most of the accelerator proliferation in the 20th century and in the present. The most prevalent machines are electron linear particle accelerators used for radiotherapy; the use of proton and ion therapy accelerators continues to grow rapidly. Increasing demand for accelerator produced radionuclides in medicine, industry and research ensures expansion in this field. In research, the use of synchrotron and free electron laser light sources facilitates accelerator applications in a much wider array of scientific disciplines, from solid state physics to biology to archaeology, leading again to a steady growth of such facilities. As for all nuclear facilities, decommissioning is the inevitable end of an accelerator’s life cycle. The evaluation of potential challenges (including the radiological exposure of workers and the public), characterization, dismantling techniques, generation and management of radioactive waste, costs, and site reuse are all important aspects of the decommissioning process of any nuclear facility, including those housing accelerators. In many countries, accelerators are not regulated in the same way as nuclear installations such as nuclear reactors or nuclear fuel cycle facilities, yet staff at accelerators may have less knowledge of waste management and decommissioning than staff at other nuclear installations. In some cases, accelerators have been semi-abandoned owing to lack of interest or an incorrect perception that their decommissioning is a low priority activity. Under these circumstances,