Planning, Managing and Organizing the Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities

Explores the development and improvement of decommissioning planning and management techniques with a focus on organisational aspects, reducing the duplication of efforts by different parties through transfer of experience and know-how, and providing useful results for those Member States implementing decommissioning projects.

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This publication is intended to encourage the development and improvement of decommissioning planning and management techniques with the focus on organizational aspects, reduce the duplication of efforts by different parties through transfer of experience and know-how, and provide useful results for those Member States planning or implementing decommissioning projects. In general it can be stated that any decommissioning project can be completed without any deleterious effects on the safety of the workforce and the public or any identifiable impact on the environment. However, timeliness and cost effectiveness are not always optimal. It has been noted on several occasions that the major weakness in decommissioning projects (as well as in other industrial projects) is often not the lack of technologies, but rather poor planning and management. This publication is intended to stimulate awareness of the need for early and efficient planning and to foster developments in management and organization in association with planned or ongoing decommissioning projects. A companion report on Organization and Management for Decommissioning of Large Nuclear Facilities was published by the IAEA in 2000 (Technical Reports Series No. 399) which provides generic guidance on organizational and management aspects. This publication is complementary to the existing publication in that it highlights practical experience – in particular, typical issues, evidence of poor management, undue delays and lack of timely funding – and distils lessons learned from this experience.