Nuclear Decommissioning is the safely removing a nuclear facility or site from service, and reducing residual radioactivity to a level that permits either to release the property for unrestricted use, or to release the property under restricted conditions. Nuclear Decommissioning includes the activities such as planning, physical and radiological characterisation, facility and site decontamination, dismantling, and contaminated materials management, etc.
Reference Definition by Wikipedia: Nuclear Decommissioning is the process whereby a nuclear facility is dismantled to the point that it no longer requires measures for radiation protection. The presence of radioactive material necessitates processes that are potentially occupationally hazardous, expensive, time-intensive, and present environmental risks that must be addressed to ensure radioactive materials are either transported elsewhere for storage or stored on-site in a safe manner. Decommissioning is an administrative and technical process. It includes clean-up of radioactive materials and progressive demolition of the facility. Once a facility is fully decommissioned, no radiological danger should persist. The costs of decommissioning are generally spread over the lifetime of a facility and saved in a decommissioning fund. After a facility has been completely decommissioned, it is released from regulatory control and the plant licensee is no longer responsible for its nuclear safety. Decommissioning may proceed all the way to “greenfield” status.
Related Definitions in the Project: The Operation and Maintenance; Technology Definitions
