ETE-EVAL: a methodology for D and D cost estimation

In compliance with Article 20 of the sustainable radioactive materials and waste management act dated 28 June 2006, the CEA and AREVA are required every three years to revise the cost of decommissioning their facilities and to provide the necessary assets by constituting a dedicated fund. For the 2007 revision the CEA used ETE-EVAL V5. Similarly, AREVA reevaluated the cost of decontaminating and dismantling its facilities at La Hague, as the previous estimate in 2004 did not take into account the complete cleanup of all the structural work. ETE-EVAL V5 is a computer application designed to estimate the cost of decontamination and dismantling of basic nuclear installations (INB). It has been qualified by Bureau Veritas and audited. ETE-EVAL V5 has become the official software for cost assessment of CEA civilian and AREVA decommissioning projects. It has been used by the DPAD (Decontamination and Dismantling Projects Department) cost assessment group to estimate the cost of decommissioning some thirty facilities (cost update on completion for the dedicated fund for dismantling civilian CEA facilities) and by AREVA to estimate the cost of decommissioning its fuel cycle back-end facilities. Some necessary modifications are now being implemented to allow for the specific aspects of fuel cycle front-end facilities. The computational method is based on physical, radiological and waste inventories following a particular methodology, and on interviews with operating personnel to compile ratios and financial data (operating cost, etc.) and enter them in a database called GREEN (from the French acronym for Management Ratios for Assessment of Nuclear Facilities). ETE-EVAL V5 comprises the cost assessment module and GREEN database. It has been enriched with the lessons learned from experience, and can be adapted as necessary to meet installation-specific requirements. The cost assessment module allows the user to estimate decommissioning costs once the inventory has been completed, to issue a detailed calculation report including the hypotheses and values used for the ratios, to issue a summary report of calculations, and to generate archivable data. The GREEN database is used to store and retrieve ratios for each facility, to compare ratios between facilities, to compare ratios with operating experience and take it into account, to supply ratios to the cost assessment module, and to log all ratio variations (references, etc.). The GREEN database includes: primary ratios, which are independent of the scenarios and facilities (for example for dose calculations: the exposure coefficients in standard work clothes, in protective suits with masks or in ventilated protective suits); scenario ratios specific to each scenario (for example for the scenario concerning cells with dose rates to be equipped with tele-operation devices: the number of person-hours hours per work unit for cutting and removing pipes); facility ratios specific to each facility (for example annual operating costs for utilities, servicing and equipment maintenance). Following an audit of the methodology, the auditors conclusions were favorable to the work carried out during the reviews of the financial provisions of the Civilian and Defense Dedicated Funds of the CEA and AREVA at the end of 2007