ANTHONY W. BANFORD[34] AND RICHARD B. JARVIS

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the various phases of decommissioning and what they seek to achieve, and discusses some drivers for decommissioning both immediately after operations cease and after a period of time. The scale of the decommissioning challenge in the UK is then outlined and some criteria for the selection of the best decommissioning option for a facility are introduced. Finally, the potential environmental impacts of each of the different decommissioning stages are discussed.

1 Introduction

Nuclear decommissioning can be defined as ‘‘The process whereby a nuclear facility, at the end of its economic life, is taken permanently out of service and its site made available for other purposes’’.1 The process of decommissioning incurs financial costs known as liabilities, both from the decommissioning process itself and the associated waste management and environmental reme­diation. The United Kingdom has played a major role in the development of nuclear power and has a large number of facilities which will ultimately need to be decommissioned.