Vandellos 1 decommissioning project. Safety before, during and after

The Nuclear Power Plant of Vandellos 1, a gas-graphite reactor (GCR), started operation in the 70's after 17 years running the decommissioning process began in 1998, and is expected to finish at the end of 2002 with the level 2 of decommissioning with a practically total scope reached, except the concrete reactor vessel and its internals that will remain for another 25 years in surveillance state (dormancy) until their total dismantling. During the last four years the activities related to decontamination and disassembly of the power plant system as well as the management of all this material have been carried out. One of the last phases of the project that will be performed this year, without doubt, one of the most representative of the operative difficulty of the task is the disassembly of some buildings which are more than 80 meters high and with some structures weighing more than 3.000 t, an operation, which is spectacular in terms of volume and mass involved. However one has to keep in mind that it has been preceded by the of clearance process of all these structures to be disassembled this summer. Hundred of thousands of radiological measures will confirm with guarantee that the destination of the dismantled materials is the correct one, assuring the protection of people and the environment. This is a process which has to integrate the principles of radiological safety and industrial safety. First, it has to be guaranteed that structures and components are below the values authorised by authorities for their free release, and, secondly, that the planned sequence of the process and manoeuvres in the disassembly of these colossal structures assures safety. (author)