| People often refer to the 'nuclear legacy' in the same | | | | Russian RBMK or British Magnox reactors. Modern |
| context as nuclear power today, but they are quite | | | | nuclear plants, such as AGRs and PWRs have been |
| different things. | | | | designed with clean-up in mind and can be |
| The nuclear legacy is the inheritance of the early | | | | decommissioned much more easily. |
| nuclear development of 60 years ago when there | | | | Of the 442 nuclear power reactors in the world, 88 |
| was little regulation and a new science was forging | | | | have been in operation for 30 to 40 years, 200 for |
| ahead, largely without adequate controls. Nuclear | | | | 20 to 30 years, 109 for 10 to 20 years and 45 for |
| legacy liabilities were largely created in the 1940s, | | | | less than ten years. This means that 209 power |
| 1950s and 1960s. Priorities and regulatory | | | | reactors, about two-thirds of them, are expected to |
| requirements were very different then from today. | | | | exceed their original 30 year design lifetime in ten |
| At that time the focus in many countries was on the | | | | years time. |
| development and application of nuclear technology | | | | Until recently there was relatively little experience in |
| for weapons and civil purposes. The priorities were to | | | | the conduct of decommissioning of aged nuclear |
| develop new approaches and to drive forward new | | | | plants and the nuclear industry, under the umbrella of |
| technology. | | | | the IAEA, is engaged in the first such exercises and |
| The long term implications of operating practices | | | | the documentation and recording of the procedures |
| were not clearly understood then and as a | | | | for future use. The first decommissionings were |
| consequence we have limited information concerning | | | | carried out on a theoretical basis but as the numbers |
| a number of legacy facilities. In some cases there are | | | | of plants closed increases, a corpus of solid |
| few reliable design drawings. In these cases the | | | | experience is being assembled and dissembled for |
| biggest challenge is not how to tackle a particular | | | | global application. |
| task but to determine what exactly has to be dealt | | | | At present, several large facilities are undergoing |
| with. | | | | decommissioning in a number of countries including: |
| Today's nuclear plants have rigorous safety systems | | | | Germany, Japan, Spain, the UK and the US, and more |
| and procedures built into them and the disposal of | | | | are scheduled for decommissioning as they approach |
| nuclear waste is an ongoing procedure, not something | | | | the end of their lifetime in the Russian Federation, or |
| to be cleared up years later. The decommissioning of | | | | as a result of their early shutdown in Bulgaria, |
| an AGR or PWR reactor will be a wholly different | | | | Lithuania, Slovakia and Sweden for safety reasons or |
| task from decommissioning the earlier generation of | | | | concerns. |