Decommissioning and the Office of Site Closure

1
Decommissioning and the Office of Site Closure

• Presented to the
• Fourth International Decommissioning Symposium
• by
• James J. Fiore
• Deputy Assistant Secretary for Site Closure
• June 13, 2000

2
International Decommissioning Symposium

• WELCOME
• to the
• Fourth International
• Decommissioning
• Symposium

3
International Decommissioning Symposium

• Why did the Office of Site Closure sponsor this
  symposium?
• We have a large inventory of nuclear facilities
  that will ultimately require decommissioning
• Where are the remaining decommissioning
  challenges?
• Near term - achieving site closure at Fernald,
  Rocky Flats, and Mound by 2006
• Longer term - the huge inventory of facilities
  remaining within the Office of Site Closure and
  the Office of Project Completion

4
EM Decommissioning - Scope

• Albuquerque
• 184 facilities total 69 completed
• Chicago
• 85 facilities total 50 completed
• Idaho
• 298 facilities total 107 completed

5
EM Decommissioning - Scope

• Nevada
• 7 facilities total 2 completed
• Oak Ridge
• 231 facilities total 69 completed
• Oakland
• 41 facilities total 3 completed

6
EM Decommissioning - Scope

• Ohio
• 161 facilities total 37 completed
• Richland
• 1265 facilities total 52 completed
• Rocky Flats
• 774 facilities total 59 completed

7
Office of Site Closure - Vision

• Set the standard for safe, cost-effective closure
  of nuclear facilities
• Be the model for transitioning Government
  activities from operations to closure
• Achieve end-states that are safe now and enable
  protective, effective stewardship for the future

8
Office of Site Closure - Vision

• Deploy new technologies to help the drive toward
  closure
• Focus on closing sites under our responsibility
  by 2006

9
Achieving the Vision

• General Approach
• More effective information exchange with industry
• More demonstrations/deployments that result in
  facilities being decommissioned
• Focus on
• Increasing worker safety
• Reducing worker exposures
• Saving time and money

10
The Near-Term Decommissioning Outlook

• Our current and near-term emphasis is on soil and
  groundwater remediation
• In spite of tight budgets, remediation work must
  grow at some sites
• Our total budget will likely remain flat
• After some near-term site closures, emphasis
  will shift to decommissioning

11
The Near-Term Decommissioning Outlook

• How will we ensure we are ready when we begin
  decommissioning? We must
• Ensure we learn from every decommissioning we
  undertake
• Maximize information sharing
• Improve our performance through better
  sequencing, more efficient operations, and
  enhanced cooperation among our sites and between
  DOE and the regulators

12
The Near-Term Decommissioning Outlook

• When our focus shifts, we will need to hit the
  ground running
• Success will require more cost-effective
  deactivation and decommissioning

13
Near-Term Efficiency Goals

• Learn from other sites, agencies, and countries
  and apply those lessons to our program
• See our Lessons Learned web site at
• http//www.em.doe.gov/lessons
• Improve decommissioning practices to yield safer,
  more effective, faster results

14
Achieving Near-Term Efficiency Goals

• What are we doing to achieve these goals?
• Learning from and contracting with companies who
  have successfully decommissioned facilities
  similar to ours
• Consolidating responsibility within a single
  decommissioning contractor to ensure
  accountability and authority
• Encouraging subcontracting to reduce overhead
  costs

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Conclusion

• The decommissioning challenge facing the Office
  of Site Closure is formidable
• We believe we are on a path (and have identified
  opportunities for improvement) that will enable
  us to meet the challenge
• Thank you for your participation in our program
  and this symposium - we could not do it without
  you