Tenders were launched to dismantle the reactor at the Garigliano power plant and to build the Magnox facility at Latina
01 August 2023
The Garigliano power plant. A tender process was started to award the contract to dismantle the vessel of the Garigliano power plant, i.e. the cylindrical steel container, and other components, called "internals", located inside it, in which the nuclear reaction took place during operation.
The tender, worth around €36 million, stipulates that the cutting and extraction operations of the components and the vessel, which are heavily contaminated, will take place under water, a natural element that will shield radiation and thus allow engineers to proceed safely.
In order to carry out the activities, the auxiliary systems of the reactor building (electrical, ventilation, automation and control systems) and the flooding circuit of the vessel and reactor channel have already been restored. Carbon steel elements and their supporting structures (racks) have also been removed from the vessel and the reactor channel, inside which the operations will take place.
With the "attack on the vessel", which will end in 2027, we enter the final phase of the decommissioning of the Campania power plant. This is the most complex activity from an engineering and operational point of view, which Italy will tackle for the first time.
Upon completion, the radioactive waste produced will be treated and placed inside special cylindrical shielding containers that will be stored in temporary storage facilities, waiting to be transferred to the National Repository, once available.
The dismantling of the Garigliano power plant will produce a total of approximately 268,000 tonnes of materials. Of these, approximately 258,000 tonnes (96%) will be sent for recovery, mostly consisting of metals and concrete.
The Latina power plant. Sogin's commissioner body also started the tender process to build the Magnox facility at Latina, which will allow the extraction and processing of approximately 70 tonnes of radioactive Magnox alloy waste.
This radioactive waste results from the removal of the "fins" of fuel elements, carried out before they are sent abroad for reprocessing.
The tender, worth about 10 million euro, provides for the construction of the facility for the recovery and treatment of this waste.
Radioactive waste will be placed in special containers and stored in the site's temporary repository while waiting for its transfer to the National Repository. Once all the waste has been extracted, the underground rooms where it was stored will be characterised and reclaimed.