8.1. MANAGEMENT OF NEW RECORDS
New records will be generated continually during decommissioning through to the final facility or site release or reuse. Some records [1] may have to be retained after the release of the site, for example waste disposal and health records. Typical records arising from decommissioning are shown in Table III.
Based on the appropriate regulations, some records will be only temporary, for example work schedules and permits to work, while others will be permanent, for example radiological survey completion reports or health records.
One important issue for the management and organization of decommissioning projects is the interaction of all the parties involved. These parties include the operator of the facility, regulatory body, contractors, public and other stakeholders. Records are generated, requested or required by each party in the course of decommissioning.
Figure 7 shows the typical relationship between decommissioning related activities and the regulatory body in the course of the life cycle of a facility, including the submis-sion and approval of documents, where appropriate. Managing this cross-flow of infor-mation and the related records is a key responsibility and an essential part of an RMS.
Information and guidance on the organization of decommissioning is given in Ref. [4].
The progress of decommissioning is documented by the management organiza-tion responsible. All the waste materials (i.e. radioactive, hazardous and non-hazardous) that were present at the beginning of the decommissioning should be properly accounted for and their ultimate destination identified. After each phase of decommissioning, as required, the operating organization may report to the regula-tory body on the management and disposal of the waste generated during that phase.
The report should also provide the current status of the decommissioning work at the facility or site and identify any anomalies observed during the phase. Moreover, information such as radiological surveys and personnel monitoring data should be reported to the regulatory body, as required.
Additional reasons for creating and maintaining the records generated during decommissioning include the potential legal and/or regulatory aspects, litigation con-cerns and information for other ongoing or future decommissioning projects.
New records should be typically managed in the same manner as historical records. The computer assisted management of decommissioning records will aid their real time acquisition (Figs 4 and 8).
8.2. MANAGEMENT TOOLS AND EXPERIENCE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF RECORDS FOR DECOMMISSIONING
A few examples of recent experience in the management of records are pre-sented in this subsection. The best system for the management of records is that which works for the particular approach the project management finds is best suited to its needs. These examples are merely case studies of systems that have worked successfully in some States.
— The United States Department of Energy (USDOE) has developed a data infor-mation management tool for use on selected decommissioning projects. The
Preliminary planning
Ongoing planning
Strategic planning
Site and/or equipment preparation
Monitoring and surveillance
Decontamination and dismantling
Waste management
Final radiological survey
Final reporting
Termination licence Decommissioning licence
Construction and operating licence
Inspection surveillance
Operations Design construction Decommissioning
related activities
Regulatory interface
Life cycle
Decommissioning Detailed work planning
FIG. 7. The decommissioning process.
tool is called the System of Tracking Remediation, Exposure, Activities and Materials (STREAM). This technology is a multimedia database that consoli-dates project information into a single, easily accessible location for decom-missioning work tracking. Information inputs can range from procedures, reports and references to waste generation logs and manifests, photographs and radiological survey maps. The STREAM system was successfully demonstrat-ed at C reactor at Hanford, USA [27, 28], together with other software tools [29]. Especially when incorporated early in project planning, it is a systematic and cost effective tool for controlling and using project information. Issues and proposals for developing an integrated data management system for the USDOE’s environmental restoration programme are extensively described in Refs [23, 30]. Reference [31] is a management guide for assisting USDOE per-sonnel and contractors to achieve the minimum USDOE record keeping requirements and to establish standard record keeping practices.
— A code system for the management of a decommissioning project has been developed in Japan [32, 33]. Various data about the Japan Power Demonstration Reactor dismantling have been accumulated in a database.
These data are being used for managing ongoing dismantling activities and verifying the code system for the management of reactor decommissioning (COSMARD) developed for forecasting management information and FIG. 8. The radiological survey of a building for the Japan Power Demonstration Reactor decommissioning project.
planning the future decommissioning of commercial nuclear power reactors.
The components that make up the data sets are radiation control data, disman-tling operations data and waste management data.
— A data management system was set up for the decommissioning of the main process building of the Eurochemic Reprocessing Plant in Belgium, which is able to process, for example, working hours, production factors and budget data for performance [34].
— The databases EC DB TOOL and EC DB COST have been developed within the framework of the European Commission’s 1994–1998 Nuclear Fission Safety programme on Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations [35, 36]. The EC DB TOOL mainly contains technological data on, for example, dismantling tooling and associated filtration techniques, and the EC DB COST data for cost estimations and dose uptakes for unit operations.
— At the Greifswald nuclear power site in Germany a data management system called the Project Information System has been set up successfully to perform and control the world’s largest ongoing decommissioning project [4, 37]. This information system comprises about 500 work packages and contains their required capacities and costs, the masses to be handled and radiological data.
Logistics are important to maintain the complex material flow. The PC program ReVK has been developed to represent material and waste flow at the Greifswald site, exercise data control within administrative constrains, main-tain bookkeeping, generate reports and manage transport and storage options.
For radioactive waste and its final disposal, ReVK includes two other PC pro-grams, AVK and AVK-ELA. The first is for controlling radioactive waste flow, the second is for final disposal purposes [38, 39]. Other software tools have been developed for the assessment of the required volumes and related costs for the disposal of decommissioning waste. A new development towards a more general management supporting system is given in Ref. [40]. Another develop-ment in Germany is given in Ref. [41].
— One example of record keeping on a specific US decommissioning project is a project involving the decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of a plutonium fabrication facility at the Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., facility in Erwin, Tennessee. In order to provide an accurate history of the decommis-sioning, every opportunity has been taken to utilize electronic monitoring, recording, retrieval and reporting. Waste items are tagged and tracked by a bar-code from the moment they are removed from the process line to the time they are placed in waste drums for disposal. This audit trail provides a validation of facility characterization, provides real time material accountability control and assists in the management of the decommissioning effort. The records required for waste shipment, storage and disposal are generated by tracking based on information in the database [42].
Further practical record keeping experience for decommissioning projects is given in Annex I.
8.3. DECOMMISSIONING REPORTS
During decommissioning planning and in the preparation of decommissioning planning reports several new supporting reports and records may be required, for example environmental assessment documents, project plans, waste management plans and safety reports. As noted, in addition to new information, significant sup-porting historical records will also be required. Supsup-porting records can be summa-rized and referenced in planning reports and managed in an RMS system.
At the completion of decommissioning a final decommissioning report that includes appropriate supporting records should be prepared. In accordance with the national legal framework, these records should be held and maintained for purposes such as the confirmation of the completion of decommissioning activities in accor-dance with the approved plan, recording the disposition of waste, materials and prem-ises, and responding to possible liability claims. The records to be assembled should be commensurate with the complexity of the facility being decommissioned and the associated hazards.
The final decommissioning report, supported by the records assembled, should contain information such as that highlighted in Ref. [1]. This report provides the con-firmation of the completion of the decommissioning. Any remaining restrictions on the site should be registered, as required by national regulations.