Page 275 - Beyond Decommissioning

256 Beyond Decommissioning

repaired and stabilized the building, took away renovations that blurred the under-
standing of its heritage values and introduced state-of-the-art facilities to render sev-
eral reuses possible. As the actual reuse had not been defined, the building was given
flexible services and fittings. Separate metering of each floor allows for a number of
tenants or uses. Renovation methods were selected to cause minimum environmental
impact on the harbor (Australian Government, 2004).
With its canals and maritime atmosphere Holmen, the former Royal Naval Dock-
yards, Copenhagen, Denmark is an area of natural beauty and architectural signifi-
cance. The abandoned 17th-century red brick warehouses, barracks and foundries
now host the Royal Academy schools (drama, film, design, architecture, music, the-
aters, galleries, restaurants, offices, and shops). The 155-m-long Torpedo Hall, con-
structed in 1954, served initially as a maintenance hall for torpedo boats. But over time
there was no longer need for torpedo boats, so the raw concrete plant was converted
into light and airy luxury flats. To conserve the industrial atmosphere, the original
concrete pillars have been kept, and the inner dockyard basin has been converted into
a docking area for the residents’ yachts. The old roof was removed, leaving the orig-
inal trusses exposed, to let daylight into the interior street on the second floor above
the garage. Footbridges running across and along the street create a sequence of move-
ment. (Arcspace, 2012)(Fig. 6.42).

6.7.2 Pools and tanks

Many nuclear installations have pools in different sizes and for a variety of purposes,
typically to house the reactor core (at pool-type research reactors) or to store spent
fuel. As an example, Fig. 6.43 shows the Chapelcross NPP pond, UK after drainage.
A comprehensive discussion on decommissioning of nuclear pools is given in IAEA
(2015b).
One example of reuse in the nuclear field is the Pool Test Reactor in Canada. Fol-
lowing decommissioning, the former reactor will be returned to a different use. The
facility will be transformed into a high bay laboratory utilizing the former pool for
additional height to install loop systems or test sections for future R&D work
(IAEA, 2011).
Long ago, a proposal was made for reusing of the K-East reactor at Hanford and is
reported here for sake of completeness. The “sister reactors” K East and K West reac
tors were built in the early 1950s and went into operation in 1955. They are situated
<400 m from the Columbia River and were finally shut down in the early 1970s. The
K East Reactor operated until 1971. A spent fuel basin attached to the reactor was
reactivated and stored irradiated fuel from Cold War operations from another Hanford
reactor through 2004. Removal of the irradiated fuel, associated radioactive sludge
and debris, and then the basin itself, took place between 2004 and 2009. Currently
(2018) this reactor is being prepared for interim stabilization (cocooning in DOE ter-
minology). Fig. 6.44 is an image of K reactor basin.
When the K reactors were in operation, the reactor cooling water made a one-way
pass: from the river to the water treatment pools (flocculation to remove sediments),