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5.1
Canada:
Cogema Resources Inc. has announced its intention to shut
down the Cluff Lake uranium mine by December 2000. The decommissioning
plan and the comprehensive environmental report are being
developed for submission with a view to obtaining the decommissioning
licence in early 2001.
5.2
Italy:
An estimated US$3 billion is required over the next 20 years
to dismantle the four Italian nuclear power plants and establish
a national repository for nuclear waste.
5.3
Kazakhstan:
The fuel has been removed from the decommissioned BN-350 Aktau
FBR using remotely operated equipment.
5.4
Lithuania:
The decommissioning of Ignalina received Parliamentary approval
at the end of April, 2000. A European Commission study estimated
that the cost of decommissioning, excluding spent fuel disposal
costs, would total 1 billion Euros (US$900 million) and take
some 30 years. The closure and decommissioning of Ignalina
is a requirement on Lithuania for its accession to the European
Community. The country therefore has to generate electricity
by other means and is investigating the possibility of building
gas power stations.
5.5
Ukraine:
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
is providing finance towards the decommissioning of parts
of the Chernobyl complex. A consortium involving Belgatom,
Ansaldo Nucleare and SGN, has been contracted for the construction
of a liquid radioactive waste processing plant. The plant
will process and condition operational waste from Chernobyl-4.
The liquid and sludge wastes are currently stored on site
in tanks with a total volume 35 000 m3. 2500 m3
equivalent should be processed each year from the time that
the plant is complete (currently scheduled for 2002).
A
French consortium led by Framatome have been contracted to
provide a packaging facility for 25 000 RBMK spent fuel elements
as well as a facility to produce reinforced concrete for dry
storage casks.
5.6
USA:
In August 1999, Portland General Electric Company
(PGE) transported the complete reactor pressure vessel from
the Trojan power plant in Oregon up the Colombia River to
the US Ecology LLW disposal site in Washington.
5.7
UK:
The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) has completed phase
1 of the £25 million (US$38 million), five year, decommissioning
of its Windscale Piles. The first phase of decommissioning
involved clearing out the air and water ducts in both piles
using remote operated vehicles adapted from North Sea oil
industry use. The water ducts had to be cleared of fuel debris
from the 1957 fire. The piles were also separated and sealed
off from the fuel storage pond. A consortium comprising of
BNFL, Nukem Nuclear and Rolls Royce Nuclear Engineering Services
is carrying out phase 2, the dismantling of the Pile 1 core.
In
November, the UKAEA announced that it had removed the first
concrete box containing reactor components from the Windscale
AGR. The decommissioning project demonstrates that a full-sized
power reactor can be decommissioned safely and cost effectively,
using current technology and with minimum risk to the environment.
The 33 MWe reactor operated from 1963-1981 to test new forms
of fuel in the transition from the first generation Magnox
reactors to the second generation advanced gas-cooled reactors.
A
contract between Nukem Nuclear Ltd and UKAEA for the decommissioning
of the Winfrith research centre was signed in March 2000.
The contract is valued at DM 90 million (US$42 million) and
involved dismantling the hot cell complex that was used for
examining fuel rods.
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