The great part of the radioactivity of systems and components in a nuclear power plant is located within the reactor building.
This building, in fact, enabled the generation of energy from a nuclear source during the operating period of the nuclear power plant and it includes the reactor pressure vessel with two fuel pools, the suppression pool and all the components connected to them.
Transferring irradiated fuel outside of the reactor building is fundamental before carrying out the decommissioning of the systems and components located in the building.
After extracting the fuel elements from the vessel and placing them in the contiguous pool, between 2007 and 2012, removal operations to ship the fuel elements to La Hague (France) for reprocessing were initiated
The dismantling project of the reactor building involves the initial dismantling of systems and components located in different areas of the site, and the subsequent dismantling of vessel and internals.
The operations have a total expected duration of 10 years (2020-2030). Operations for the dismantling of systems and components of the building have been designed and planned so far, and their implementation is planned between 2020 and 2025. Moreover, in 2018, some preliminary works have already been launched, including the adaptation of the electric and cooling systems. The vessel dismantling operations are expected between 2026 and 2030.