Posted Jul. 13, 2009

Regional Training Course on Decommissioning

Jun. 1-5, 2009 - Argonne National Laboratory

During the week of June 1-5, 2009, a group of 13 decommissioning subject matter specialists – mainly representatives from nuclear operating organizations and regulating organizations - from 12 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Member States attended a special session of the Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) Training Course on the “Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities”. This course was directed by Larry Boing of Argonne’s Nuclear Engineering (NE) Division and was based on the popular Argonne training course offered on a regular basis for some 12 years to over 1200 attendees from over 40 countries.

The training course provides a complete (and even intense) overview of the decommissioning process weaving technical lectures with case study lectures and technical visits to reinforce key concepts. It was offered to the IAEA nominees on a "cost free" basis through the Agency’s International Decommissioning Network (IDN). Argonne hosted the event through their Division of Educational Programs (DEP) under the direction of Dr Harold Myron with the support of his staff with U S State Department funding.

The training was held in Building 223 using the DEP auditorium / facilities with the IAEA selecting the participants for the training through an internal screening process that they have used in the past for such applicant selection processing. The technical program brought some of the world's leading experts in decommissioning to Argonne for the week to lecture and share their knowledge and experiences with the attendees. In addition, Argonne staff presented some of the lectures based on their own set of work experiences in supporting various decommissioning projects. Experts who served as lecturers during the week were:

• Jean-Guy Nokhamzon (CEA - France),
• Mark Price (Southern California Edison - SONGS Unit #1),
• Rock Aker (USDOE-New Brunswick Laboratory),
• Joe Carignan (Project Services Group),
• Robin Shult (EnergySolutions),
• Lisa Mullen and Bob Hulick (both with Bluegrass Bit Company),
• Roberto Mandanas (Cellular Bioengineering Inc),
• Mark Hannan (IAEA - Waste & Environmental Safety Section), and
• Larry Boing (Argonne)

The entire spectrum of steps required to decommission a facility were addressed during the training including: final facility shutdown / transition to decommissioning, planning for and implementation of decommissioning, related technologies and final project close-out and license termination and site release activities. Case studies and site visits were used to supplement the formal lecture materials.

Trainee support was provided by the IAEA Department of Technical Co-operation organized through the European Regional Project on Decommissioning (RER 3009). Attending Member States included representatives from

• Brazil,
• China,
• Czech Republic,
• Egypt, Hungary,
• Kazakhstan,
• Latvia,
• Lithuania,
• Philippines,
• Poland,
• Slovenia, and
• South Africa. 

Upon completion of their training and returning to their countries, the attendees will serve as ‘national decommissioning experts’ of sorts for their respective Member State. All participants received an Agency ‘Certificate of Completion’ for their successful completion of the training program.

The course, materials, lecturers and staff were all highly rated by the participants, who suggested that the training course be offered to other specialists through a similar arrangement via the IAEA’s IDN on a regular basis.