The activities undertaken during decommissioning, following any routine programmes of defuelling or facility system flushing, generally comprise a formal sequence of non-routine tasks. To ensure that these tasks are com­pleted with respect to safety, programme, quality and cost considerations, it is important to identify the change of emphasis in the training requirements as the transition from operations to decommissioning occurs.

The risk of losing knowledge, both explicit and tacit, increases with the time passed. The problem is compounded by the fact that efforts to identify the information requirements for decommissioning are not usually an organized and consolidated activity and may not be appreciated by organi­zations operating the nuclear facility. For these reasons, it is important to

Table 6.4 Specialization requirements during construction, commissioning and plant operation

Tasks and activities during the Requirements of education

different stages of the NPP

lifecycle

M. Sc. in engineering (civil or mechanical)

B. Sc. in engineering (mechanical, electrical, electronics, civil)

B. Sc./B. A. in business administration, accounting

B. Sc. in engineering (mechanical, electrical, electronics, civil) and technicians (mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, civil construction, accountants, draftsmen, computer) and craftsmen (boilermakers, carpenters, concrete workers, electricians, insulators, iron workers, millwrights, operators of heavy equipment, painters, pipe fitters, sheet-metal workers, welders)

Table 6.4 Continued

Tasks and activities during the Requirements of education

different stages of the NPP

lifecycle

M. Sc. in engineering, preferably mechanical

B. Sc. in engineering (mechanical, electrical, nuclear, chemical)

B. Sc. in engineering (mainly mechanical, electrical, nuclear, also electronics, chemical, civil); physicist; chemist; metallurgist and technicians and craftsmen in specific field of activities

M. Sc. in engineering

B. Sc. in engineering, preferably electrical or mechanical

Technicians (might be B. Sc. in engineering), electrical or mechanical

Technicians (electrical, mechanical)

B. Sc. in engineering (preferably mechanical)

B. Sc. in engineering

Mechanical, electrical and instrumentation and control technicians and mechanical crafts, electricians, electronics and civil crafts

M. Sc. in engineering

B. Sc. in engineering

M. Sc. in engineering or physicist

Technicians

B. Sc. in engineering, physicists, chemist and technicians (mechanical, electrical, radiological protection)

B. Sc. or M. Sc. in engineering (nuclear, mechanical, electrical, electronics, chemical); physicists, chemists and technicians (mechanical, electrical, electronics, chemical, computer, draftsmen)

B. Sc. in engineering (preferably mechanical) and technicians (mechanical, electrical, civil, welding)

Adapted with permission from IAEA (1980), Table 1.12-1 to Table 1.12-10 Manpower Requirements and Technical Qualifications, on pp. 133-184 of the Technical Reports Series No. 200, Manpower Development for Nuclear Power: A Guidebook, IAEA, Vienna.

consider decommissioning as a phase in the lifecycle of a nuclear facility and to preserve during operation the records and information that might be useful after shutdown.

Training has an important role during the transition to decommissioning, when the detailed design of the decommissioning project and its organiza­tion are being developed. Training can be an effective tool to transmit information stored during the operation of the facility to the decommis­sioning organization and its personnel. In the same way, training is also essential during the planning and performance of specific decommissioning tasks, particularly during the detailed planning of each work package, which usually relies on a sound knowledge of the configuration and the operational history of the systems to be dismantled. Thus, in this phase, the training of work supervisors, health physics personnel, ALARA technicians and industrial safety personnel, and other personnel, can be accomplished.

According to IAEA (2008b), typical subject matter for generic safety and other training is as follows:

• General employee training in radiation safety, industrial safety, fire safety and emergency planning

• Radiation worker safety training

• Respirator (full-face, half-face, self-contained breathing apparatus) training

• Airline suit training

• Electrical safety training

• Confined space training

• Crane, hoisting, and rigging training

• Lockout and tagout training (safe system of work)

• Fire watch training

• Forklift safety training

• Human performance awareness fundamentals training

• Peer and self-checking

• Project reviews and pre-job briefings

• Use of power tools

• Manual handling

• Basic first aid

• Working at height

• Chemical/hazardous material handling.

Finally, contractors are used more in the ‘worker’ group to provide spe­cialist support and to satisfy peak labour demands. The training for contrac­tors is no less onerous than that for the client organization workers, and in many cases may be greater due to the non-familiarity of the contractor worker with the working environment.

In accordance with the tasks to be performed during decommissioning, different positions could be found such as operators, technicians (radiologi­cal protection technicians and chemistry technicians), maintenance person­nel (electrical, mechanical and instrumentation and control technicians), craft personnel (welders, pipefitters, carpenters) and supervisors of the above categories, with an academic profile similar to those described in the preceding paragraphs.