Clean-up and dismantling, Dismantling - legacy of the past, prospects for the future: CEA, a pioneer in the dismantling process, nuclear dismantling, research and innovation dedicated to dismantling

France - a world leader in the whole nuclear power cycle - is also responsible for the clean-up and dismantling of its end-of-life nuclear facilities. Here, the CEA is considered to be a pioneer both in the project ownership of work sites and in the R and D for optimising the timescales, costs and safety of those work sites. Its responsibilities range from defining the most appropriate scenario, characterising the radiological state of equipment and decontaminating premises, carrying out dismantling and optimising the resulting waste. With this wide range of skills and the diversity of its facilities, the CEA Nuclear Energy Division is developing innovative solutions which are already the subject of industrial transfers. Two-thirds of France's end-of-life nuclear facilities belong to the CEA - a situation connected with its history. This implies setting up clean-up and dismantling work sites which have unprecedented scientific, human and financial challenges. Every regulated nuclear installation (INB) (nuclear reactors, laboratories, etc.) has a limited operating life. When it stops being used, it is first cleaned up (removal of radioactive substances), then dismantled (disassembly of components) in accordance with the baseline safety requirements, and finally decommissioned so that it can be used for other purposes or be demolished. Cleanup and dismantling operations concern all the facility's components, such as hot (shielded) cells which can be found in some laboratories. As the owner of its clean-up and dismantling projects, the CEA also devotes a significant amount of R and D to reducing the timescales, costs and waste from current and future programmes, while improving their safety. The resulting innovations often lead to industrial transfers. (authors)