Decommissioning Planning and Licensing Development at ANPP& Pilot Decommissioning Project at ANPP (A1.01/09 C & D)

Only general contract information is available.

Since 1995, the EC has supported through the Tacis Nuclear Safety Program the Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ANRA) and the most urgent nuclear safety improvements in the plant through an on-site assistance program. The assistance to ANPP continues under INSC the new Instrument For Nuclear Safety Cooperation (2007-2013).
The strategy for the eventual decommissioning of the ANPP and the Initial Decommissioning Plan have been developed and approved by the Government of Armenia in 2007. This strategy concludes that an effective deferred dismantling strategy (termed “Sequential Dismantling”) is the preferred option.
Since their formal approval in 2007 no further action has been taken in translating these basic documents into more detailed objectives and actions which will be implemented at ANPP. Before any specific plans for Dismantling and Decontamination (D&D) projects can be developed, necessary decommissioning planning / preparation activities should be expanded to provide more details on how D&D projects will be undertaken and also site-wide requirements for the systems and processes shall be in place before D&D starts.
Armenia does not have the experience and expertise needed for this further development and is lacking the economic strength to have it properly organised.
The EC has decided to support Armenia with this further development in order to ensure a sufficiently high level of safety for the operators, the public and the environment. This support is provided through Consultancy services which are based on best practice in the EU Member States and compliant with internationally agreed guidelines, standards and regulations.

The overall objective of the project was to support the Decommissioning Planning and Licensing for general decommissioning activities at ANPP on the basis of the national regulations in the subject area, best practices applied in EU Member States and compliant with internationally agreed guidelines, standards and regulation, and to implement pilot Dismantling and Decontamination (D&D) activities for selected ANPP systems.
The project was divided in two parts. The specific objectives were:
• To develop ANPP decommissioning concept and selected licensing documents (within Part 1) and to start pilot implementation of the concept and approach for selected Unit 1 systems (within Part 2).
• To involve local companies / experts in the implementation of project activities, in order to help to develop local expertise for future decommissioning projects at ANPP, and to ensure sustainability in the area of decommissioning.

The main result of the project was the start of decommissioning works, via development of documents necessary for decommissioning licensing (Part 1) and carrying out pilot D&D activities (Part 2) on two systems:
• Emergency Condenser within boundary of the ”boron room” at Unit 1 reactor building
• Piping and equipment at the elevation 14.7 of Unit 1 Turbine Hall
Part 1 of the project consisted of five tasks (P1.A-P1.E). Within Tasks P1.A-P1.C, following documents were developed, and after discussions and iteration, accepted by ANPP.
• Decommissioning Process Map
• Decommissioning Process Model
• Licensing Plan
• Safety Analysis Report (SAR) for Decommissioning Activities
• Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA) for Decommissioning Activities
• Decommissioning Waste Management Program for ANPP
• Technical Specifications for Equipment, Packaging and Monitoring, including a Waste Estimation
The Task P1.D consisted of the development of Decommissioning Information Management System including database designated to collect and use all plant data relevant for decommissioning work. Further, the database was populated with Unit 1 reactor building data.
Within the Task P1.E, a proposal for the change to the organisational structure of ANPP and the necessary additional training to encompass future decommissioning operations were developed.
In the second part of the project, the systematic approach developed in the first part of the project was applied to the two selected systems at the ANPP Unit 1. This included the preparation of a full set of D&D documents for a demonstration pilot decommissioning project, and conducting all necessary operations for the achievement of a complete D&D of the selected systems.
The project Part 2 consisted of 10 tasks (P2.A-P2.J). The tasks P2.A-P2.G resulted in following documents and activities:
• Development of D&D plan for the areas to be dismantled
• Establishment of the Pilot Project Site boundaries and definition of Part 2 plant inventory
• Development of Pilot Project Basic Design for D&D pilot project
• Preparation of licensing documentation for D&D pilot project
• Waste management plan and dose assessment for D&D pilot project
• Development of Pilot Project Detailed Design for D&D
• Development of Working Procedures and Quality Plan for D&D pilot project
The last three tasks consisted of training of D&D operators on D&D Methodology, and carrying out and completing the dismantling activities of the pilot systems. The successful pilot decommissioning of the two pilot systems showed, that the developed design and processes work well at ANPP. The project concluded that with some additional equipment and some administrative changes in ANPP’s structure, ANPP would be ready for the coming decommissioning challenge.