Page 209 - Beyond Decommissioning

190 Beyond Decommissioning

repair, or remove. Luckily, there were onsite several pallets of the original blocks that
could be used as replacements.
The northern side has a brick facade and was completed in 1962. The building
also offers conference halls, an auditorium, and a cafe. The area in front of Biotech
Place was planned to become a public park offering concerts and night movies. An
old rail line behind the facility will be converted into a trail that will connect with
existing trails totaling some 50 km of walking or biking pathways (Politico
Magazine, 2016).

6.2.2.8 OPEC 1 and 2, Casaccia Research Center, Rome, Italy
Since 2003, at the Enea Casaccia Research Center, SOGIN has been managing the
nuclear decommissioning of OPEC plant (an acronym for Operazioni Calde—Hot
Operations), including the management of both operational and decommissioning
waste.
OPEC consists of two units, OPEC 1 and 2. OPEC 1 started operation in 1962: it
was the first plant in Italy to conduct research and postirradiation investigations on
UO2 fuel elements. The operations consisted of surveys and destructive analyses
of fuel elements inside three in-line screening cells. Since 1990, the OPEC 1 deacti-
vation process have involved encapsulation of the spent fuel, dismantling of the equip-
ment and decontamination of the hot cells. In 2008, the structure was given to storage
and management of radioactive materials.
OPEC 2 was constructed in the 1970s: it aimed at furthering research, controls and
analyses being performed at OPEC 1, especially for “alpha seal” management of
highly irradiated fuel. The plant, including two high-activity and five medium activity
cells, never went operational. Today, the plant is being restructured to turn it into an
interim store for the radioactive waste generated at the Casaccia Plutonium Plant.
Between 2012 and 2014, at the OPEC plants, a number of safety-driven activities
were carried out addressing: the control of the ventilation systems, transformers, elec-
trical substations, emergency compressed air systems, intercom, liquid tank work-
shops and monitoring system.
At OPEC 1 the underground tanks (Waste A and B), formerly used for collection of
radioactive liquids, were taken offsite for processing. The next phase involves recla-
mation of the structures housing the tanks.
In 2014, removal of nuclear materials from the plant within the scope of the GTRI
(Global Threat Reduction Initiative) agreement stipulated between Italy and the USA
was completed. The removal of nuclear materials and spent fuel under the GTRI has
been conducive to the safe and cost-effective decommissioning and release of Italian
nuclear plants.
The OPEC decommissioning activities will end between 2023 and 2027 (a range
including the uncertainties due to the prototypical character of the works). At this
stage, the radioactive waste, already conditioned and stored in the interim stores
onsite, will be ready for shipment to the future National Repository
(SOGIN, 2017).