Decommissioning

 

Objective - The objective of the Agency’s programme on decommissioning is to assist Member States in planning and implementing safe decommissioning of nuclear installations and other facilities utilizing radioactive material. The IAEA develops and maintains a set of internationally approved safety standards that establish safety requirements for the decommissioning process and provide guidance on the establishment of an appropriate regulatory framework, selection of decommissioning strategies, preparation of decommissioning plans, implementation of decommissioning projects and clearance of materials, structures and sites from regulatory control.

In addition, the Agency organizes international meetings and projects on decommissioning, to instill knowledge, analyse good practices, prepare and disseminate recommendations on technical and safety aspects of decommissioning, demonstrate steps in the decommissioning process using ‘model facilities’, share experience and lessons learned in decommissioning, and to enhance human and technical capacities for decommissioning in Member States.

Decommissioning training events are organized annually by means of different international and national projects to transfer the knowledge and experience to Member States that need assistance in decommissioning. The Agency also offers peer review and advisory services to Member States to review regulatory, technical and safety aspects of decommissioning. These services identify areas for improvement and provide suggestions for corrective actions to be taken.

Main Activities

The main areas of work in decommissioning safety are:

• Development and maintaining up to date of international IAEA Safety Standards for decommissioning
• Development of publications to support the application of the safety standards (e.g. Safety Reports and TECDOCs)
• Planning and implementing international projects on decommissioning, e.g. the R2D2 Project, the FaSa project and the Iraq Decommissioning Project
• Support the International Decommissioning Network (IDN)
• Convening local and international meetings and training events
• Providing support to the IAEA Technical Cooperation Programme
• Undertaking international peer review and advisory service missions

 

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