Decommissioning Planning: Adapting to Changing Regulations

Abstract

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) is globally recognized as a highly capable Environmental Remediation Management (ERM) organization and premier nuclear Science and Technology (S&T) laboratory that has led research and development in support of the CANDU fleet for decades. CNL’s ERM team is accelerating the accomplishment of the largest and most complex decommissioning and environmental remediation portfolio in Canadian history.

Decommissioning planning is required by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) at all phases of nuclear reactor construction, operation, and eventual decommissioning. This entails the development of Preliminary Decommissioning Plans (PDPs), and Detailed Decommissioning Plans (DDPs). CNL is in various phases of planning and decommissioning activities for the first CANDU-like reactors in the world, Nuclear Power Demonstration, Gentilly-1 and Douglas Point, as well as the legacy research reactors National Research Universal and National Research Experimental. CNL is also engaged in decommissioning planning and execution for a variety of legacy research and isotope production facilities at the Chalk River site, and has demolished over 100 buildings to date. To support its planning efforts, CNL developed cost estimating tools and models to assist in decommissioning planning, and is actively managing a Liability Cost Estimate Program.

The CNSC has recently updated regulations, including guidelines on decommissioning cost estimating, to increase rigor around decommissioning and planning. Existing nuclear license holders must adapt, and newcomers to the industry, such as small modular reactor (SMR) vendors, will face challenges learning these processes. In this paper CNL draws on its vast expertise in decommissioning planning spanning CANDU prototype and research reactors, and contaminated facilities to discuss how existing and future license holders can adapt to updated cost estimating guidelines.