Selection and evaluation of decontamination and dismantling techniques for decommissioning of large NPPs components

Most nuclear power reactors were built for one purpose - to produce electricity as safely and economically as possible. Plants were not designed for easy decommissioning. Since decommissioning was not taken into account from the beginning, dismantling and decontamination (D and D) activities must be planned individually for each unique facility. The paper presents main aspects and schemes of the selection and evaluation process used in Lithuania for decommissioning of emergency core cooling system and auxiliary reactor systems at Ignalina NPP. In addition, results of a GRS study on the different factors leading to the selection of dismantling techniques for decommissioning of a reactor pressure vessel in Germany are presented. (orig.)