Lessons learned: Past to future [Identification, preservation and incorporation of decommissioning lessons]

The identification, preservation and incorporation of decommissioning lessons learned are critical to the continued expansion of nuclear power. Decommissioning experience will be developed in Europe and Asia over the next several years and that experience will be invaluable for the decommissioning of the next wave of plants in the USA. Industry and regulators will need to work cooperatively to ensure that the information is preserved and included in the design and operation of all new nuclear facilities, as well as in ongoing decommissioning projects. The paper describes the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's efforts to capture the decommissioning lessons learned from the first wave of decommissioning projects in USA. (author)