Operational experience of decommissioning techniques for research reactors in the United Kingdom

In previous co-ordinated research projects (CRP) conducted by the IAEA no distinction was made between decommissioning activities carried out at nuclear power plants, research reactors or nuclear fuel cycle facilities. As experience was gained and technology advanced it became clear that decommissioning of research reactors had certain specific characteristics which needed a dedicated approach. It was within this context that a CRP on Decommissioning Techniques for Research Reactors was launched and conducted by the IAEA from 1997 to 2001. This paper considers the experience gained from the decommissioning of two research reactors during the course of the CRP namely: (a) the ICI Triga Mk I reactor at Billingham UK which was largely complete by the end of the research project and (b) the Argonaut 100 reactor at the Scottish Universities Research and Reactor centre at East Kilbride in Scotland which is currently is the early stages of dismantling/site operations. It is the intention of this paper with reference to the two case studies outlined above to compare the actual implementation of these works against the original proposals and identify areas that were found to be problematical and/or identify any lessons learnt. (author)