Efficient planning and cost control in the demolition of nuclear facilities

Demolishing a nuclear facility is not only a technical challenge but also implies demanding measures of planning and project control, especially cost control. Major reasons and the requirements they entail are covered in the article. The long period of time required for demolition projects, and a number of specific criteria to be met, are major challenges facing planning, management, and control. The most important controlled variables are deadlines, manpower, equipment, and cost. For a project to succeed, planning therefore must closely interact with execution. Project planning and control systems must be structured clearly, flexible, and able to handle and document procedures, plant data, and costs in an interconnected fashion. They must incorporate both work flow and database functions. NIS Ingenieure developed the CORA and CALCOM project planning and control system specifically for planning and control of the decommissioning and disposal of nuclear facilities. The system is operated in close exchange of data with proven project management systems, such as MS PROJECT or PRIMAVERA. The system has proved its merits for many years in concept development, benchmark exercises, sensitivity analyses, and comparisons of targets versus performance in project planning and control. (orig.)