Decommissioning Challenges, strategy and programme development

This document gathers 4 short articles. The first one presents the IAEA decommissioning activities. These activities include: -) the development and implementation of the international action on decommissioning, -) the provision of experts and equipment to assist member states, -) networking activities such as training or exchange of knowledge and experience. The second article presents the work program of the Nea (nuclear energy agency) in the field of decommissioning and reports on the lessons that have been learnt. Among these lessons we can quote: -) selecting a strategy for decommissioning and funding it adequately, -) regulating the decommissioning of nuclear activities, -) thinking of the future in terms of reusing materials, buildings and sites, -) involving local and regional actors in the decommissioning process from decision-making to dismantling work itself, and -) increasing transparency in decision-making in order to build trust. The third article presents the management of radioactive wastes in France. This management is based on the categorization of wastes in 6 categories according to both the activity level and the radioactive half-life T: 1) very low activity, 2) low activity and T < 31 years, 3) low activity and T > 31 years, 4) intermediate activity and T < 31 years, 5) intermediate activity and T > 31 years, and 6) high activity. For categories 1, 2, 3 and 5, the waste treatment process and the disposal places have been operating for a long time while for categories 4 and 6, the disposal places are still being studied: low-depth repository and deep geological repository respectively. The last article presents the action of the US Department of energy in decommissioning activities and environmental remediation, the example of the work done at the ancient nuclear site of Rocky Flats gives an idea of the magnitude and complexity of the operations made. (A.C.)