Decommissioning

The once seemingly insurmountable technical challenges of dismantling a commercial nuclear plant have been largely eliminated through experience. Decommissioning processes have been standardized and optimized

After a 10-month competitive bid process, Southern California Edison (SCE) has selected a joint venture of AECOM and EnergySolutions as the general contractor for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) decommissioning. “We are pleased to announce the selection of the AECOM/EnergySolutions team, a global joint venture with extensive commercial and government decommissioning experience around […]

Decommissioning of former fast reactor research and development centre, UK Design and construction of new effluent plant Amec Foster Wheeler announces today that it has won a contract to provide a new effluent treatment plant for the Dounreay nuclear site in the UK. The contract, valued at £7m, was awarded by Dounreay Site Restoration Limited […]

Deciding to retire a coal-fired unit is often a tough call, but even tougher decisions follow. The next steps taken by a generation owner have multiple economic, environmental, and stakeholder consequences. Since 2000, U.S. generating companies (Gencos) have announced the closure of more than 200 coal-fired power plants, totaling 102 GW of generating capacity. Closures […]

An “ice wall” put up by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) around its four crippled reactor units at Fukushima Daiichi reportedly isn’t working as planned to keep out groundwater flowing into the devastated nuclear plant. According to The Asahi Shimbun, an expert panel at Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority on August 18 said that though five […]

The International Energy Agency predicts that nearly 200 reactors will be decommissioned during the next 25 years. Industry best practices and new technology can help make the process go more smoothly. It may not come as a surprise, but the average age of operating reactors in the U.S. is greater than 35 years. There hasn’t […]

When the decision is made to retire a power plant, the work of getting there is just beginning. Maintaining safe and reliable generation requires strong leadership, clear communications, and heightened attention to operations and maintenance, staff morale, and post-shutdown plans.   For utilities and other generators facing the challenge of winding down operations at an […]

The balance in the Zion Nuclear Power Plant decommissioning trust fund was about 30% lower at the end of 2014 than it was the previous year according to a report filed by ZionSolutions with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on March 30. The Report on Status of Decommissioning Funding for Shutdown Reactors—due annually—indicated that there was […]

Two giants in the power industry—Westinghouse Electric Co. and Bechtel Corp.—have formed an alliance to provide decontamination, decommissioning, and remediation services to U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. The alliance is expected to provide a full range of services, including pre-shutdown planning, characterization, decontamination, licensing, project development and management, dismantling, demolition, waste handling, and site closeout. […]

Operators at Entergy’s Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VY) took the plant offline permanently on Dec. 29 at 12:12 p.m. EST, ending a 42-year operational history. The shutdown is the first step in what is expected to be a decades-long decommissioning process for the plant. VY follows several other nuclear plants that have begun the […]