International Atomic Energy Agency

INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)

CONSTRAINTS TO IMPLEMENTiNG Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation Programmes

(“CIDER” project)

Member State Survey

July 2012

Advancing Implementation of

Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation Programmes

Survey on challenges to implementing projects in IAEA Member States

Background

At a side event held during the 55th regular session of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) General Conference in September2011, the decommissioning of nuclear installations and the environmental remediation of radiologically contaminated sites worldwide were discussed. The conclusion was reached that many IAEA Member States faced significant challenges in implementing their national programmes in these two areas. The IAEA was encouraged to undertake further activities to gain a better understanding of the global situation and to establish mechanisms to analyse and report on these issues. Ultimately, this could include the establishment of a dedicated working group to advise the IAEA and Member States on specific actions and projects to advance the implementation of decommissioning and remediation programmes in Member States.

In January 2012, a proposal was developed for an initial activity focussed on the collection and analysis of information on current practices and, in particular, on the barriers that may be impeding the implementation of decommissioning and environmental remediation programmes. It is planned that this exercise will comprise: (1) a survey of the current situation in Member States; and (2) a Technical Meeting at which the survey results will be discussed and analysed together with Member States’ representatives, and during which detailed terms of reference for a possible future working group may be developed. The present questionnaire was developed in response to (1) above. Data will be collected from July 2012 onwards and preliminary analysis of the results will be presented at a side event during the 56th regular session of the IAEA General Conference in September 2012. The Technical Meeting to analyse the results in detail will be held in early 2013.

Purpose

The purpose of this survey is to gain an understanding of the current status of decommissioning and environmental remediation programmes in Member States, with a particular focus on what challenges may exist that impede progress in these programmes and their relative importance in different Member States. The survey will also be used to identify specific case studies for further analysis, in order to gain a better insight into the issues and constraints being faced by Member States.

Method

For ease of use, this survey is being implemented on a web-based platform, CONNECT (“Connecting the Network of Networks for Enhanced Communication and Training”), which has been developed by the IAEA to facilitate information sharing within the community of people working on issues relating to radioactive waste management.

Compilations of the current situation in the Member States that respond to the survey will be made by the IAEA and the results will be used as a basis for a wider analysis of the global situation on barriers to implementing decommissioning and environmental remediation programmes.

The survey is structured into three parts: (1) a glossary of terms; (2) general information on current and future decommissioning and environmental remediation programmes in the relevant Member State; and (3) information about the specific barriers faced in the relevant Member State.

PART 1 Glossary[1]

Accident:

Any unintended event, including operating errors, equipment failures and other mishaps, the consequences or potential consequences of which are not negligible from the point of view of protection or safety.

Activities:

include: the production, use, import and export of radiation sources for industrial, research and medical purposes; the transport of radioactive material; the decommissioning of facilities; radioactive waste management activities such as the discharge of effluents; and some aspects of the remediation of sites affected by residues from past activities.

Contamination (radioactive):

Radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirable, or the process giving rise to their presence in such places.

Decommissioning:

Administrative and technical actions taken to allow the removal of some or all of the regulatory controls from a facility (except for a repository or for certain nuclear facilities used for the disposal of residues from the mining and processing of radioactive material, which are ‘closed’ and not ‘decommissioned’).

Facility:

includes: nuclear facilities; irradiation installations; some mining and raw material processing facilities such as uranium mines; radioactive waste management facilities; and any other places where radioactive material is produced, processed, used, handled, stored or disposed of — or where radiation generators are installed — on such a scale that consideration of protection and safety is required.

NORM:

Material containing no significant amounts of radionuclides other than naturally occurring radionuclides. The exact definition of ‘significant amounts’ would be a regulatory decision. Materials in which the activity concentrations of the naturally occurring radionuclides have been changed by human made processes are included. These are sometimes referred to as technically enhanced NORM or TENORM.

Remediation:

Any measures that may be carried out to reduce the radiation exposure from existing contamination of land areas through actions applied to the contamination itself (the source) or to the exposure pathways to humans.

*Site:

An area containing radioactive materials and having a designated boundary for the purposes of radiological control. For the purposes of this survey, this will include nuclear sites, sites with radioactive contamination, NORM sites and uranium mining and milling sites. However, small sites such as hospitals and educational laboratories are not included.

*Legacy sites:

Sites on which radioactive materials have been left or where contamination occurred due to activities in the past, and for which there is no longer any operator or the former operator cannot any longer be held responsible for remediation. In general the State has taken over responsibility from previous operators.

PART 2 General information on nuclear installations and/or sites

Categories of installations and sites that exist in your country (tick if applicable)

Category of installation/site
Licensed nuclear installations and sites[2]
Radioactively contaminated research and defence sites
Uranium mining and milling facilities/sites
NORM facilities/sites
Sites affected by major accidents
Interim waste storage facilities/sites
Others (if applicable)

Table 1 Category of Installation/Site

Add comments if needed:

………………………….

July 2012 Page 1 |

2.1 Licensed nuclear installations and sites involved in the nuclear fuel cycle[3]

Nuclear power plants
Site / Number of reactors on the site / Soil/groundwater affected
(Y, N, U);
if yes, describe volumes:
(L, M, MH, H) / Legacy site
(Y/N) / Timeframe for D&R
(NT, MT, LT) / Responsible
for D&R
(O, G, ND) / State of
D&R
(OP, NS, On, I, C)
Example:
Site name A / 6 / N / N / 5 x LT, 1 x NT / O / 5 x OP, 1 x NS
Site name B / 2 / Y, L / Y / 2 x MT / G / 2 x NS
Nuclear fuel cycle facilities (enrichment plants, reprocessing plants, fuel fabrication plants, etc.)
Site / Number of facilities on the site / Soil/groundwater affected
(Y, N, U);
if yes, describe volumes:
(L, M, MH, H) / Legacy site
(Y/N) / Timeframe
for D&R
(NT, MT, LT) / Responsible for
D&R
(O, G, ND) / State
of D&R
(OP, NS, On, I, C)
…
Research reactors, accelerators, etc.
Site / Number of facilities on the site / Soil/groundwater affected (Y, N, U);
if yes, describe volumes:
(L, M, MH, H) / Legacy site
(Y/N) / Timeframe
for D&R
(NT, MT, LT) / Responsible for
D&R
(O, G, ND) / State
of D&R
(OP, NS, On, I, C)
…

Add comments if needed (for instance: reason for interruption of D&R projects): ………………………….

Legend

D&R – decommissioning and remediation

Y– yes; N – no; U – unknown

NT – need for D&R in the near-term (< 15 yr); MT – need for D&R in the mid-term (15 yr. – < 50 yr.); LT – need for D&R in the long-term (> 50 yr)

O – operator; G – Government or State agency; ND – not defined

OP – in operation; NS – not started;– On-going; I – Interrupted; C – completed

Volume of soil contamination: L (low) < 10 000 m³; M (medium) 10 000 m³ – <100 000 m³; MH (medium–high) 100 000 m³ – < 1,000,000 m³; H (high) > 1 000 000 m³

Volume of groundwater contamination: L (low) < 10 000 m³; M (medium) 10 000 m³ – <100 000 m³; MH (medium–high) 100 000 m³ – < 1,000,000 m³; H (high) > 1 000 000 m³

2.2 Radioactively contaminated research and defence sites

Site / Type of research and operation / Soil/groundwater affected (Y, N, U);
if yes, describe volumes:
(L, M, MH, H) / Legacy site
(Y/N) / Total area affected
[km²] / Timeframe for D&R
(NT, MT, LT) / Responsible for D&R
(O, G, ND) / State of
D&R
(OP, NS, On, I, C)
…

Add comments if needed: ………………………….

2.3 Uranium mining and milling sites (list major sites with waste volume produced >1 million m³; aggregate smaller sites if possible)

Open pit mining
Site / Soil/groundwater affected (Y, N, U);
if yes, describe volumes:
(L, M, MH, H) / Legacy site
(Y/N) / Total amount of waste rocks and overburden left on the site [m³] / Total area affected
[km²] / Timeframe for mine closure[4]
(NT, MT, LT) / Responsible for mine closure
(O, G, ND) / State of mine closure
(OP, NS, On, I, C)
…
Underground mining
Site / Soil/groundwater affected (Y, N, U);
if yes, describe volumes:
(L, M, MH, H) / Legacy site
(Y/N) / Total amount of waste rock left on the site
[m³] / Total area affected
[km²] / Timeframe for mine closure
(NT, MT, LT) / Responsible for closure
(O, G, ND) / State of mine closure
(OP, NS, On, I, C)
…
In-situ leaching
Site / Soil/groundwater affected (Y, N, U);
if yes, describe volumes
(L, M, MH, H) / Legacy site
(Y/N) / Total area affected
[km²] / Timeframe for D&R
(NT, MT, LT) / Responsible for D&R
(O, G, ND) / State of
D&R
(OP, NS, On, I, C)
…
Processing plants
Site / Soil/groundwater affected (Y, N, U);
if yes, describe volumes
(L, M, MH, H) / Legacy site
(Y/N) / Total amount of tailings left on the site
[m³] / Total area affected
[km²] / Timeframe for D&R
(NT, MT, LT) / Responsible for D&R
(O, G, ND) / State of
D&R
(OP, NS, On, I, C)

Add comments if needed:

………………………….

2.4 NORM/TENORM facility sites (list major sites with waste volume produced > 100 000 m³; aggregate smaller sites if possible)

Site / Type of operation / Soil/groundwater affected
(Y, N, U);
if yes, describe volumes:
(L, M, MH, H) / Legacy site
(Y/N) / Total area affected
[km²] / Timeframe for D&R
(NT, MT, LT) / Responsible for D&R
(O, G, ND) / State of
D&R
(OP, NS, On, I, C)

Add comments if needed:

………………………….

2.5 Sites affected by major accidents[5]

Site / Type of accident / Soil/groundwater affected (Y, N, U);
if yes, describe volumes:
(L, M, MH, H) / Legacy site
(Y/N) / Total area affected
[km²] / Timeframe for D&R
(NT, MT, LT) / Responsible for D&R
(O, G, ND) / State of site D&R
(OP, NS, On, I, C)
on the site / outside the site boundary

Add comments if needed:

………………………….

2.6 Major[6] waste management facilities and/or sites requiring decommissioning and / or remediation

Site / Type of
storage facility / Soil/groundwater affected (Y, N, U),
if yes, describe volumes:
(L, M, MH, H) / Legacy site
(Y/N) / Total area affected
[km²] / Timeframe for D&R
(NT, MT, LT) / Responsible for D&R
(O, G, ND) / State of site D&R
(OP, NS, On, I, C)

Add comments if needed:

………………………….

2.7 Others

Add appropriate table or comments if needed:

………………………….

July 2012 Page 1 |

PART 3 BARRIERS TO IMPLEMENTATION OF DECOMMISSIONING AND REMEDIATION PROGRAMMES

3.1 What factors facilitate or promote decommissioning in your country?

Drivers / Influence ranked High Medium or Low (H, M, L)
National policy
Regulatory or legal drivers
Recognized risk to public
Recognized risk to workers
Recognized risk to environment
Political considerations
Economic or market considerations, e.g. potential for reuse of site
Local stakeholder expectations and demands
Other

Comment:

3.2 What factors facilitate or promote remediation in your country (if not driven by decommissioning)?

Comment:

3.3 What are the common challenges to decommissioning in your country?

Challenges / Influence ranked High Medium or Low (H, M, L)
Financial / funding
Limited / lack of national policy
Limited / lack of regulatory framework
Uncertainty over the end state
Limited / lack of technology
Limited / lack of skills (quantity and quality of personnel)
Lack of ownership / responsibility
Stakeholder opinion / resistance
Lack of waste management/disposal systems
Lack of transportation system
Low national priority (perceived or real)
Other site priorities, e.g. ongoing operations versus decommissioning
Uncertainty or unknown risks, e.g. lack of characterization
Complexity of task, e.g. complicated by an accident
Risks (e.g. dose) to workers
Logistics (e.g. problems accessing the area of concern)
Impact of or on neighbouring sites / areas / countries
Other

Comment (e.g. indicate if a barrier is specific to a particular category of installation or site):

3.4 What are the common barriers to remediation in your country?

Barrier / Influence ranked High Medium or Low (H, M, L)
Financial / funding
Limited / lack of national policy
Limited / lack of regulatory framework
Uncertainty over the end state
Limited / lack of technology
Limited / lack of skills (quantity and quality of personnel)
Lack of ownership / responsibility
Stakeholder opinion / resistance
Lack of waste management/disposal systems
Lack of transportation system
Low national priority (perceived or real)
Other site priorities, e.g. ongoing operations versus decommissioning
Uncertainty or unknown risks, e.g. lack of characterization
Complexity of task, e.g. complicated by an accident
Risks (e.g. dose) to workers
Logistics (e.g. problems accessing the area of concern)
Impact of or on neighbouring sites / areas / countries
Other

Comment (e.g. indicate if a barrier is specific to a particular category of installation or site):