The IAEA promotes Italy on dismantling plans of the Garigliano and Trino reactors

18 September 2018

Last Monday, within the 62nd General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency- scheduled on 17th – 21st September -, a side event took place involving Sogin, the Italian State-owned company responsible for the decommissioning of nuclear power plants and radioactive waste management.

As the name of the event suggests, “Review of Sogin’s plans for dismantling of Garigliano and Trino reactor pressure vessels and internals”, it was the occasion to present the outcomes of the independent technical review carried out by the IAEA on Sogin decommissioning planning of the reactors of two nuclear power plants (NPPs), Garigliano and Trino. The event was attended, among others, by the Italian Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, Ambassador Maria Assunta Accili, the IAEA Deputy Director General, Mikhail Chudakov, the Director of the IAEA Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology, Cristophe Xerri, as well as by Sogin President, Marco Ricotti and Sogin CEO, Luca Desiata.

The Technical Review, performed within the framework of the Integrated Review Service for Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel Management, Decommissioning and Remediation Programs (ARTEMIS), was aimed at verifying strategies, technologies and safety measures for the removal of the reactor pressure vessels (RPVs) and internals (RVIs) of Garigliano and Trino NPPs. This Technical Review is the first of its kind that the ARTEMIS team performs on the dismantling projects of a nuclear reactor. The IAEA report highlights good practices that the Company has already implemented and provides also a series of suggestions. Sogin was identified as a company with qualified capacities in place that has taken a proactive approach to transfer the knowledge from experienced staff to younger generations. Decommissioning activities were planned by Sogin according to the highest international standards and in a systematic and prudent manner. In this regard, the IAEA finds that Sogin carried out safety assessments of the preparatory work for dismantling operations and effectively conducted an appropriate evaluation of technical approaches for dismantling and removing RPVs and RVIs.

The IAEA suggests to Sogin a greater use of 3D models for planning and execution of dismantling scenarios, a higher level of completeness of the radiological characterizations and an improvement of the tendering process in order to evaluate different technical solutions. The contribution of IAEA 2017 and 2018 Peer Reviews confirm the excellent collaboration that for the second year was carried out between the Agency and Sogin.

Side Event "Review of Sogin’s plans for dismantling of Garigliano and Trino reactor pressure vessels and internals”

Presentation - AD Sogin