The dismantling of the WAGR reactor vessel

The Windscale advanced gas reactor (WAGR) was decommissioned in 1981. The dismantling process has been divided into 10 stages, each stage requiring its own agreement from safety authorities. The first stage plans the total clearing away of the core and of the reactor vessel, on the whole 1200 tons of materials will be removed. Various solutions have been considered. The different parts of the vessel can be cut and take away by using either an oxy-propane cutting torch with powder injection or a cutting disk combined to an oxy-propane cutting torch without powder injection. Validation tests have yielded experimental data on the amount of wastes and dust produced, on the cutting velocity, on the temperature range and on the reliability of the cutting method. These results are necessary to define the operating strategy to follow. (A.C.)