Status: ongoing
Period: 2009-2025
The auxiliary building, close to the reactor building, houses the systems that enabled the reactor functioning (including the purifiers’ pool and the fuel pool SFP). Dismantling operations involve removing contaminated systems and components that are not necessary for the safe maintenance of the plant. The dismantling work will specially focus on the following systems:
- Volume loading and adjustment system;
- Residual heat removal system;
- Drainage and gaseous discharges system;
- Sampling system;
- Emergency cooling system of the core;
- Compressed air system (for the part of “sealed” compressed air).
So far, preliminary dismantling activities have been implemented, including the removal of asbestos and mineral wool from the building systems.
The removal of non-contaminated systems started in 2009. The activity was implemented through several campaigns and ended in 2018 with the removal of the systems deemed useless for decommissioning and safe maintenance operations.
A well, located in the pool of purifiers, houses 30 activated elements resulted from the cutting of the thermal shield (1967). The pool also contains the water purification system of the spent fuel pool. On the bottom of the pool the residues resulted from the cutting are stored in a steel tank. In 2011, activated components were characterised; their transfer to the spent fuel pool is planned by 2019.
The project will involve pool water drainage and treatment, decontamination of surfaces and immobilisation of residual contamination. The actions will be carried out to prepare the pool of purifiers to the implementation of the
Cementation Facility.
The final stage of the project will involve the pools’ dismantling, the cutting of activated components, racks and auxiliary systems; all these materials will be conditioned in appropriate tanks, suitable for the future shipment to the National Repository.
The drafting of an operational plan for this activity is currently under development, as well as the design of the cutting machine that will be used for cutting components. The activity is estimated to last 48 months. The main difficulty involves treating activated materials and minimising the amount of waste affecting the number of special storage tanks.