Development of a methodology to select suitable cutting techniques for the decommissioning of nuclear power plants considering site-specific requirements

In the nuclear industry field, the decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) is becoming a very relevant issue due to the number of reactors that are expected to shut down in the next few decades. Each plant presents unique characteristics, not allowing to develop a standard dismantling program that can be valid for all NPPs. Several cutting techniques have been applied in the past to dismantle reactors and their internals, however the selection of a suitable cutting technology implies considering several different parameters, such us applicability, cost and secondary waste, which can make the choice challenging. In this paper, the most relevant cutting technologies (CTs) used in decommissioning projects of Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) are presented and their advantages and drawbacks are discussed. As the customary trade-off matrix approach to compare technologies considering their main characteristics does not consider plant-specific details, a novel methodology that considers these aspects has been developed, whose aim is to combine the information on both the cutting techniques and the site-specific requirements. The proposed methodology can be used to assist stakeholders in the development of a comprehensive decommissioning plan, considering unique site characteristics.