1 04 TRANSURANIC ELEMENTS IN THE ENVIRONMENT 



TABLE 9 Release of Airborne Transuranics from a 

 Mixed-Oxide-Fuel Fabrication-Plant Center 



* Activity 2.5 yr after discharge; 7.6 metric tons of 

 mixed-oxide fuel produced per 1 GW(e)-yr. 



Protective storage. At shutdown the facOity is prepared to be \ef{ in place tor an 

 extended period. Temporary physical barriers are constructed between the environment 

 and radioactive contamination in the facility. Continuing surveillance is required after the 

 facility has been placed in protective storage. Surveillance continues until all radioactivity 

 in the facility has decayed or further decommissioning activities are carried out. 



Entombment. At shutdown the facility is prepared to be left in place until all 

 radioactivity has decayed to nonhazardous levels. Permanent physical barriers are 

 constructed between the environment and the radioactive contamination in the facility. 

 Minimal surveillance is required at an entombed facility. 



Dismantlement. At shutdown all potentially hazardous amounts of radioactive 

 contamination are removed from the facility to an approved disposal site. Plans for future 

 use of the site dictate which noncontaminated portions of the facility remaining after 

 dismantlement will be demolished and removed. 



Combinations of these basic modes can also be used to decommission a retired 

 faciUty. For example, a facility can be placed in protective storage at shutdown and 

 dismantled after radioactive decay has reduced radiation levels in the facOity. 



The decommissioning mode assumed here for each fuel-cycle facility is dismantle- 

 ment. Decommissioning by dismantlement requires that all potentially hazardous 

 amounts of radioactivity be packaged and removed from the site to an approved disposal 

 location. Uncontaminated portions of the facOity can be reclaimed for other uses or 

 demolished and removed. In either case there would be no restrictions on subsequent use 

 of the site; no residual from its use in the nuclear fuel cycle would remain. 



For mixed-oxide-fuel fabrication plants, immediate dismantlement after a 30-yr 

 useful hfe is assumed. For nuclear power plants and fuel reprocessing plants, a 30-yr 

 useful life is assumed, but dismantlement is preceded by 50- and 30-yr periods of 

 protective storage, respectively, to allow short-Uved activity to decay. During protective 

 storage of nuclear power plants and fuel reprocessing plants, the radioactivity is 

 consolidated in portions of the facility with relatively high contamination levels. 

 Appropriate security measures are established, and a surveillance and monitoring program 

 is maintained. Because most wastes generated in preparing for protective storage will be 

 stored on site, major shipments of wastes will occur only at the final dismantlement. 



Wastes generated during decommissioning are listed in Table 10. The wastes shown in 

 Table 10 must be packaged and shipped from the site by truck or rail to an approved 

 disposal location. There will also be atmospheric releases of gases and releases of water to 



