Regional Basic Professional Training Course in Korea

❙ 989 ❙
19. Decommissioning
being maintained, such record keeping should be initiated as soon as possible. These
records should be configured so that those relevant to decommissioning may be readily
identified (e.g. the estimates of the radioactive inventory should be easy to locate and
update). In addition to drawings and diagrams, photographic records of the construction
and operational phases of the reactor lifetime should be kept.
During operations, consideration should be given to minimizing the extent of
contamination of structures and surfaces, segregation of different categories of wastes,
and avoidance and prompt cleanup of spillages and leaks [2, 11-18]. This should also
include maintenance of protective coatings and containment of contaminated materials.
Experimental irradiation of specimens of selected materials used in the construction of
the installation may assist in comparing the measured with the calculated activation levels
for estimating the final radioactive inventory.
19.2.3. TRANSITION PHASE
The transition period between operation and the implementation of decommissioning
involves some routine operations along with others that may be specific to the transition
stage based on the type of facility. This period can be confusing and stressful to plant
workers and, in addition, operational safety may be compromised. During this period a
number of plant, system and organizational modifications will be necessary to meet the
objectives and requirements associated with decommissioning. A change of thinking
within the management and workforce is also needed to respond to these new objectives
and to the different management and working practices.
There are some important operations that are independent of the decommissioning