Experiences from other countries

Here we have gathered information about decommissioning experience from other countries.

To date, 100 mines, 90 commercial power reactors, over 250 research reactors and a number of fuel cycle facilities, such as reprocessing plants and nuclear fuel production plants, have been retired from operation. Most of these facilities have not yet been dismantled.

The decommissioning of nuclear plants is set to become an increasingly important issue in the years ahead. It is for example a fair assumption that 50 to 60 of the 155 reactors currently operating in the enlarged European Union will need to be decommissioned by 2025.

Although indications suggest a peak of decommissioning work requirements between 2015 and 2025, the operating lifetime of the plants is not the only factor affecting the timing of decommissioning. National and industrial strategies, economical, political and public opinion constraints may well influence this timing. In addition, lifetime prolongation may postpone the decommissioning time of several of these reactors.

Greifswald in Germany
Decommission of Greifswald NPP in North-Eastern part of Germany is the world’s largest decommission project of nuclear power plants. Decommissioning and dismantling og Greifswald NPP and the construction and commissioning of the Interim Storage North, have been in process for more than 10 years.

Since termination of energy generation in 1990, the German Federal Minsitry of Finance has spent more than 1,5 billion Euros on post operation and decommissioning (EWN 2006).

Greifswald NPP is situated in Land of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the North-Eastern part of Germany. It has VVER 440 reactors, like Kola NPP. Units 1-4 are version 440/230, and unit 5 is version 440/213 (Kola NPP has both versions). With 1760 MW installed power; they contributed with about 11 % of the overall energy production in the former GDR.

The last operating reactor at Greifswald nuclear power station was shut down on 18 December 1990. The reactor was the last operating reactor in the former GDR. The closures of the Greifswald reactors came after a devastating report on the safety of the plant by West German experts from the Gesellschaft fuhr Reaktorsicherheit (GRS - the reactor safety agency). GRS not only discovered major design defects in the Greifswald reactors but also "serious deficiencies in the safety culture". GRS also found that VVER-440s tend to suffer from severe pressure vessel embrittlement (Wise 1991).

The dismantling of the equipment and components started in unit 5 in November 1995 and has been continued step by step with the other units:

* The contaminated equipment of units 1, 2, 4 and 5, formerly used for energy generation, has been dismounted and stored in the Interim Storage North (ISN).
* The reactor pressure vessel of unit 5 has been in trial run for a total of only 17 effective days, and thus had low contamination level. Therefore it could be dismantled in 2003 as a complete component and transported to the ISN.
* The remote dismantling of the activated reactor internals of reactor unit 1 started in September 2004. The reactors 2 to 4 are still in their installation position.
* The non-contaminated facilities of the turbine hall units 3 to 5 have nearly completely been dismantled, cut and disposed of after clearance measurements. The preparations for dismantling the equipment of the turbine hall unit 2 have started in 2004.

For cutting the activated reactor components, the company EWN developed a complex remotely controlled facility. It has been successfully tested and commissioned. For special requirements, adapted laser cutting techniques are available. Other techniques like water abrasive jet cutting have also been tested.

Ignalina
The Ignalina NPP was not build to meet Lithuania's needs, but as part of the Soviet Union's North-West Unified Power System. The two RBMK-1500 reactors were put in operation in 1983 and 1978, with a design lifetime 2010 - 2015. Originally it was planned four units, but construction of the third unit was terminated in 1989 due to public protests. In 1993 it was decided to dismantle this partially completed unit. This work is not yet completed.

Decommissioning of the Ignalina plant will raise serious economic problems for Lithuania and social problems for the region. The area around Ignalina plant was recently estimated as the least economically developed region in the country. In the nearest town Visaginas ethnic minorities (mainly Russain speaking) make up 86 % of the residents.

More than 80 % of incomes of the Ignalina district consist of incomes from the nuclear plant. Visaginas has around 33 800 inhabitants and about 5 100 of them are employed by the Ignalina plant. Most of the other working people of Visaginas are employed in services related to the plant.

In June 2000 the Lithuanian government, in co-operation with the European Commission and the EBRD organised a Donor's Conference for the decommissioning of Unit 1 of Ignalina NPP. During the conference the donors committed over EUR 216 million to the Decommissioning Fund and certain long-term financial assistance. A special international fund for the decommissioning of the Ignalina plant, administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), was set up in 2001. The European Union is the main contributor to the fund. In addition, EU agreed to include Community financing in the 2007 - 2013 financial perspective. It should be noted here that on 29 September 2004 the Commission adopted a proposal for a regulation to implement this financing (COM 2004).

Unit 1 was closed in 2005. Lithuania has undertaken to close Unit 2 by no later than 31 December 2009. These closure commitments were included in Protocol No 4 to the Act of Accession, which entered into force on 1 May 2004.