Lessons learned from the decommissioning of the Saxton nuclear experimental corporation facility

The Saxton Nuclear Experimental Corporation (SNEC) Facility, a 23.5 MWt reactor, operated from 1962 to 1972. From 1972 to 1974 it was partially decontaminated and placed in a storage condition. By the mid-1980's a decision was made to complete the decontamination and demolition of Saxton support structures. Appropriate structural maintenance of these support structures during the shutdown period could have extended their life. This lesson learned has direct applicability to owners of other shutdown facilities. The SNEC support facility decontamination project occurred during 1987 to 1989. NRC regulatory practice at that time was to perform a 100% confirmatory survey following submittal of the licensee's final survey report. This process took several years and building demolition took place in 1992. Since that time NRC rules and practices have changed such that decommissioning activities can be accomplished more efficiently. In 1995 the owners made a decision to complete the decommissioning of the remainder of the facility which included the steel containment vessel (CV) which housed the nuclear system components. A site characterization plan was developed and performed based on the remaining nuclear related structures. In 1998, based on published guidance from the NRC, a Historical Site Assessment (HSA) was performed which indicated that the adjacent coal-fired facility, which had been demolished in 1975, had also been impacted by SNEC Facility operations. Surveys taken in this area discovered radiological contamination above site release limits. This discovery added considerable scope and cost to the project. The key lesson is to perform an HSA in order to more accurately define project scope before hand. The SNEC Facility decommissioning project was a milestone in the current United States decommissioning process and these and other lessons learned from SNEC have direct applicability to other facilities. (author)