Decontamination is a major activity in decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants. In efforts to reduce the overall volume of nuclear waste, retrieve reusable materials, and reduce the environmental impact, many different technologies have been developed/used in prior decommissioning projects and many more are being developed. However due to the amount of technologies available and the specific use cases for each, the ability to choose an appropriate and optimal technology is a challenge.  Canada also has limited experience in decommissioning and thus the challenge of selecting the appropriate method, often coming from an international source is further complicated.  An approach was adopted to develop a tool to assist in selection of decontamination technologies appropriate for Canadian Applications.  The first step is the creation of a database to compile information of the different decontamination methods currently available in one location.  The amount of material collected is vast and many of the technologies have both useful value and limitations regarding their applicability for decontamination of a particular component or system. To solve this, the next step was the development of a software program to provide a search optimization for the database based on a set of initial user conditions. The program considers a radio-isotopic breakdown of a component as identified by the user and compares its concentration (Bq/g) to regulation limits set by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CSNC) for *Unconditional Clearance Levels*. Then, by using the CNSC guidelines, it will determine if the component is under Unconditional Levels or not. If the component is not, the code will calculate the minimum cumulative Decontamination Factor (DF) required to make the component compliant with unconditional requirements. The software also presents isotopic information of all the radioisotopes in question. A novel aspect of the develop software is its ability to optimize the selection of technologies by including the effect of allowing for natural radioactivity decay.  The software allows for users to plan their decontamination roadmap at a present state as well as a future state where natural decay opens up the ability for a wider range of decontamination technologies and for a combination of multiple components to use a given decontamination technique.  


Development of a Selection Tool for Choosing Decontamination Technology for Canadian Applications

Division / Sponsors: 
Power Division & Nuclear Engineering Division (NED)

Power Conference
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/POWER/POWER2020/volume/83747

International Conference on Nuclear Engineering
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ICONE/ICONE2020/volume/83761

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