The first phase of the vessel dismantling has been completed at the Garigliano nuclear power plant
30 July 2024
Sogin,the removal of contaminated metal components placed on the deflector, the upper part of the vessel, the steel container in which the nuclear reaction took place during operation, has been completed at the Garigliano nuclear power plant Caserta, Italy).
These activities complete the first phase of the vessel dismantling at the power plant located in Campania region. This is the most complex activity from an engineering and operational point of view for the decommissioning of a nuclear plant.
The operations, carried out together with the subsidiary
Nucleco, began at the end of 2023 with the flooding of the vessel and the reactor channel, a step required to guarantee maximum safety during the work as water is a natural element that shields the radiation.
During the first phase of the activities, the components were removed and cut, thus reducing their volume, working under water using a pneumatic clamp and special mechanical equipment, operated remotely with the support of high-resolution underwater cameras.
Afterwards, the treated components, weighing approximately one ton, have been placed in two special high integrity containers for temporary storage on site, waiting for their future transfer to the
National Repository.
Activities will continue with the removal of the components inside the vessel, called internals, for which the executive design has already started, and finally with he dismantling of the vessel itself.