Decommissioning project of commercial nuclear power plant

Decommissioning project of commercial nuclear power plant in Japan was outlined. It is expected that the land, after the decommissioning of commercial nuclear power plants, will serve as sites for new plants. Steps will be taken to reduce the amount of wastes generated and to recycle/reuse them. Wastes with a radioactivity concentration below the 'clearance level' need not be dealt with as radioactive material, and may be handled in the same way as conventional wastes. The Tokai-1 power station, a 166 MWe carbon dioxide cooled reactor which closed down in 1998, is being decommissioned and the first ten years as 'safe storage' to allow radioactivity to decay. Non-reactor grade components such as turbines were already removed, heat exchanger dismantling started and the reactor will be dismantled, the buildings demolished and the site left ready for reuse. All radioactive wastes will be classified as low-level wastes in three categories and will be buried under the ground. The total cost will be 88.5 billion yen -34.7 billion for dismantling and 53.8 billion for waste treatment including the graphite moderator. (T. Tanaka)