No small fry: Decommissioning research reactors

To get a permit to build a research reactor, would-be operators need to submit an initial decommissioning plan for the eventual shutdown of their new facility. This, however, was not a requirement back in the 1950s, 60s and 70s when most research reactors that are now nearing the end of their working lives were built. The result: many unused reactors sit idle in the middle of university campuses, research parks and hospital compounds, because their operators lack the proper plans to decommission them.