Decommissioning Services

From planning to execution, Centrus has the knowledge and experience to ensure the successful decommissioning of your nuclear facility with a focus on safety, regulatory compliance, and cost-effectiveness. Our team has demonstrated the ability to complete decommissioning work on schedule and budget by employing innovative approaches to meeting an organization’s goals, all while ensuring safe operations and strict adherence to regulatory requirements.

Recent Success

Centrus has successfully performed decommissioning of two of its American Centrifuge Demonstration facilities: the120-machine centrifuge cascade of the American Centrifuge Demonstration Plant in Piketon, Ohio, including plant support equipment, and the Testing and Demonstration Facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

These projects were both performed under a combination of rigorous U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission safety requirements, strict U.S Department of Energy security protocols, and multiple state and national environmental and transportation regulations. Modern project management tools were utilized to establish, monitor, and control project cost and schedule performance. Risks were identified at the start through a comprehensive analysis and proactively managed to ensure a timely and cost-effective outcome.

For waste disposal, Centrus researched and refined innovative strategies to address many of the unique challenges present in decommissioning nuclear facilities with proliferation-sensitive technologies. In Ohio, approximately 5,660 cubic meters of classified/contaminated waste was dismantled, packaged, and shipped during a 7-month campaign involving nearly 150 shipments to a disposal site – more than 2,000 miles away – for permanent disposal. In addition, 800 loads with 22,650 cubic meters of sensitive unclassified/uncontaminated material went through a rigorous destruction process to remove sensitive content prior to being released to local waste disposal facilities.

The 12-month project to decommission the Oak Ridge facility generated less waste than the Ohio project but was notably different from a Security and Safeguards standpoint in that the facility required the application of a stringent declassification protocol in order to achieve the project end-state.

Decommissioning Specialties

Centrus’ specialized and experienced management team has the expertise required to successfully decommission a nuclear facility under stringent cost, safety, and security requirements:

  • Decommissioning Planning
  • Program Management
  • Regulatory and Security Oversight
  • Safety & Radiation Protection
  • Dismantling & Packaging
  • Shipping & Transportation
  • Waste Profile & Disposal
  • Radiological Surveys & Decontamination

Decommissioning Challenges

Centrus’ subject matter experts are well versed in mitigating challenges that arise in nuclear facility decommissioning, such as:

  • Workforce transition from operations to decommissioning
  • Economical continuous tracking of shipments
  • Achieving milestones that reduce regulatory obligations
  • Waste characterization and segregation
  • Techniques to minimize packaging volume
  • Enhancement of chain-of-custody management
  • Establishment of radiological release criteria
  • Employee productivity incentives

Decommissioning Site Services

Centrus is ready to leverage its knowledge and experience to help other companies plan and execute successful decommissioning projects. Centrus can help assure your successful decommissioning by providing consultants and technical experts at key stages of the project:

  • Preparation and planning of cost, scope and schedule estimation of a decommissioning project
  • Assessment of amount and characterization of waste
  • Development and/or review of procedures and plans for conditioning, packaging, storage, transport, and disposal
  • Determination of the need for and extent of decontamination
  • Recommendations of optimal volume reduction techniques to include metal cutting, intact removal of large components, and remotely controlled operations
  • Lessons Learned associated with handling of environmental safety and health issues and unexpected occurrences
  • Organization, training, and retention of a decommissioning workforce focused on safety, compliance and cost-effectiveness

Contact:

Dennis Yates
yatesdw@centrusenergy.com
(865) 241-7582

American Centrifuge Operating, LLC d/b/a Centrus Technical Solutions