ML23076A289
| ML23076A289 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 05/15/2023 |
| From: | Bruce Watson NRC/NMSS/DDUWP/RTAB |
| To: | |
| Watson B | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML23047A461 | List: |
| References | |
| Download: ML23076A289 (4) | |
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BRUCE A. WATSON, CHP United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1
AN OVERVIEW OF THE U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION DECOMMISSIONING PROGRAM: PROGRESS WITH MORE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES!
BRUCE A. WATSON, CHP United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
Bruce.watson@nrc.gov Abstract The United States Decommissioning Program continues to make progress to decommission and remediate the commercial complex nuclear facilities and legacy sites. Since promulgating the 1997 License Termination Rules to regulate the decommissioning of nations commercial nuclear facilities, nearly 80 complex sites, including 12 power reactors have completed decommissioning and licenses terminated for unrestricted use. Substantial progress is also being accomplished to complete the remediation of legacy sites and the transfer to long term surveillance plans to the US Department of Energy. Since 2013, eleven (11) power reactors have permanently ceased operations and entered decommissioning status. Most of the newly shutdown plants were expected to enter a significant dormancy period or safe storage, however, many of the utility operators have chosen to move directly to active decommissioning. As of October 2022, the power reactor decommissioning program has increased significantly to 26 units with 18 being in various stages of active decommissioning. The current trends are to contract the decommissioning work to a decommissioning company or transfer the licenses to decommissioning companies willing to assume financial risks and technical responsibilities to decommission the sites. This presentation will provide an overview of the U.S.
decommissioning program challenges, including the status of the reactor decommissioning program, legacy site remediation, improvements to the regulatory framework, lessons learned and technical guidance initiatives to improve the program.
- 1.
INTRODUCTION The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is the United States independent safety regulator for all commercial uses of radioactive materials. Each year, the NRC and the NRC Agreement States issue and terminate hundreds of licenses for medical, industrial and research facilities. As shown in Figure 1, Over the past 25 years. significant progress has been accomplished to clean up and terminate over 80 complex decommissioning sites. All complex material sites, including 12 power reactors, have been terminated for unrestricted use except for the Uranium Mill Tailing Radiation Control Act sites that remain under US DOE long-term stewardship. The NRC decommissioning regulatory process promotes the prompt decommissioning of licensed facilities and ensuring safety and security. NRC is committed to fulfilling the promise that licensed facilities and sites will be cleaned up for future use and economic development.
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Figure 1, Cumulative Completion of Complex Decommissioning Sites
- 2. Overview of NRC Regulatory Framework In the early 1990s, the first 3 power plants shutdown and started decommissioning. The decommissioning regulations were revised in 1997 to reflect the lessons learned from these 3 plants.
In the late additional regulations in the 1990s and 2000s, more plants shutdown and NRC used these regulations to terminate 8 more power reactor licenses. The NRC has developed a robust framework of regulatory requirements and continues to improve the regulatory and technical guidance. After evaluating the actions taken to reduce legacy sites, NRC initiated regulations for licensees to implement to prevent the spread of contamination during operations. The NRC recognized the need to issue new regulations to improve the transition of operating power plants to decommissioning.
- 3. Legacy Site Update In the US, there are two types of legacy sites, the Uranium Mill Tailing Radiation Control Act legacy sites that will remain under regulatory control into perpetuity and the Site Decommissioning Management Plan sites. In 1996, the Site Decommissioning Management Plan (SDMP) was implemented by the NRC to complete the decommissioning of legacy sites. As shown in Table 1, the NRC and Agreement States have made steady progress to reduce the number of legacy sites. The legacy sites were formerly licensed by the Atomic Energy Commission, the NRCs predecessor regulator, that were terminated without verifying the sites meet the unrestricted use criteria. Significant progress continues to be made to reduce the legacy sites under regulatory control.
Year Total Sites to Remediate NRC Sites Agreement States Net Reduction 1996 60 60 0
0 2009 60 17 43 0
2016 16 5
11
- 44 0
20 40 60 80 100 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Cumulative Completion of Complex Decommissioning Sites 1998-2023 Materials Sites Research Reactors Power Reactors
BRUCE A. WATSON, CHP United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission 3
2023 13 4
9
- 47 Table 1, Legacy Site Reduction Since 1969
- 4. Regulatory Improvements In 2011, NRC found that additional requirements were needed to help prevent legacy sites, new regulations and regulatory guides were issued to provide licensees with acceptable approaches for compliance. Based on the decade of experience, the regulations have been effective. In 2013, the first of 13 power reactors unexpectedly shutdown before the end of their operating licenses due to changes in the energy markets and other reasons. In 2001, NRC determined the need to develop new regulations to make the transition of power reactors from operations to decommissioning more efficient. Due to external events, the rulemaking for the new regulations were deferred to 2014 and are expected to be issued in 2024.
- 5. Dynamic Challenges and Opportunities In 2013, the reactor decommissioning program began to evolve creating new challenges and opportunities for the NRC to manage. Changes in the US energy markets resulted in more nuclear power plants ceasing operations before the expected end of the operating license. With the increased shutdowns, utility operators elected to sell the shuttered plants to decommissioning companies requiring the NRCs approval to transfer the license. This has led to most of the plants to choose immediate decommissioning and resulted in some of the plants in safe storage to be sold and begin decommissioning.
In 2014, the first of the license transfers with asset sale was completed for the Vermont Yankee plant. The NRC must review the proposed licensees technical qualifications and financial assets in order to approve the license transfer. As the asset sale includes not only the safe decommissioning of the reactor plant, but also the safety and security to manage the spent nuclear fuel. The license transfers along with utility operators choosing the more traditional business approach to contract and oversee a company to decommission the plants, has caused a record number of plants to be in active decommissioning. The dynamic increase of active decommissionings has had significant impacts to the decommissioning inspection program and the expected early submittal of multiple license termination plans. NRC has taken several comprehensive actions to address the challenges with the expansion of the decommissioning program. The expansion provided the opportunities to re-structure of the Regional Offices organizations that perform inspections, improve the inspection programs and risk-inform the inspection procedures, cross qualifying headquarters personnel as inspectors, and adding new and upgrading decommissioning training courses. In 2021 and 2023, the Humboldt Bay and La Crosse power reactor licenses were terminated respectively, bringing the number of power reactors licenses terminated to 12. However, the current number of plants in active decommissioning will be challenging to manage.
US NRC February 2023 Decommissioning Status 17 Power Plants in Active Decommissioning 8 Power Plants in SAFSTOR No additional Power Reactor Announced shutdowns 2 Research Reactors 4 Complex Materials Sites 16 Uranium Mill (UMTRCA) Sites in Decommissioning
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28 Uranium Mill Sites in DOE Long Term Stewardship Table 2, US NRC February 2023 Decommissioning Status Acknowledgments The author would also like to thank Ms. Kimberly Conway for her review of the abstract, extended abstract, decommissioning data and presentation. And Ms. Brittany Bolz for assist with data collection.