Page 97 - Beyond Decommissioning

78 Beyond Decommissioning

make a significant contribution to the sustainability of existing buildings. There is also
a growing perception that it is cheaper to convert old buildings to new, more sustain-
able uses than to demolish and rebuild (Bullen and Love, 2011).
Redeveloping nuclear and radiological sites incorporates the principle of sustain-
ability and must be an essential industrial policy. The key objectives of successful
decommissioning are: (1) safety and health protection of the workers, the public,
and the environment during and after decommissioning; and (2) restoring the site
to new functions. A series of lifecycle phases beginning with safe and productive oper-
ations, continuing through safe and cost-effective decommissioning, and ending with
well-considered site reuse complies with the principle of sustainability at its best.
The fundamental environmental principles—reduce, recycle, and reuse (the 3 R’s
rule) (United Nations Centre for Regional Development, 2011)—are conducive to
smooth, timely, and cost-effective decommissioning. Applying these principles
means minimizing generation and spread of contamination during plant operation
and decommissioning, minimizing waste, and recovering, recycling and reusing mate-
rials, components, and structures. Demolition and disposal should be viewed only as
the last resort.
As important as the reuse of structures, systems, and components (SSCs) is the
post-decommissioning reuse of land, surface- and ground-water, and buildings. Often
nuclear facilities occupy only a fraction of the overall site; this eases site reuse and
redevelopment. Site redevelopment often has high score among local stakeholders.
SSCs that are highly contaminated generally need to be decontaminated and dis-
mantled, and often disposed of after treatment, conditioning, and packaging. But land,
water bodies, and several buildings remaining after decommissioning are available for
prompt reuse. Besides, a vast majority of the waste arising from decommissioning are
clean and eligible for recycling.
The 3 R’s imply not only good safety and environmental practices but also generate
possibilities for workers’ reemployment and community redevelopment. In many
cases, the ideal reuse of a nuclear site may be the construction of a new nuclear facility
onsite. This option may be the best in the whole socioeconomic scenario—since it
reemploys readily available, experienced skills and the continuing nuclear use is typ-
ically well accepted by the local communities.
The 3’s formula is specified by the top-level IAEA document on nuclear energy
(International Atomic Energy Agency, 2008) under Principle 7-Resource Efficiency.
This reference goes on stating “Many components used throughout the nuclear energy
chain can be reused and recycled, ranging from site locations and plant equipment to
fuel … and construction materials.”
The nuclear industry and the (nuclear, environmental, labor) regulators share a
responsibility to launch and perform strategies for safe and cost-effective reuse of
the resources associated with a nuclear site.
International harmonization of regulatory standards eases sound projections, early
planning, and efficiency in nuclear decommissioning process. For decades there have
been international efforts to reach agreed standards (clearance criteria) on the removal
from regulatory control of materials and land containing minor amounts of radioac-
tivity; these standards were especially addressed to the use or disposal of massive