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Advance Planning
Approximately five years before a company plans to terminate plant operation, it must submit a preliminary decommissioning cost estimate to the NRC. Within two years of a plant’s planned shutdown, its operator must submit a post-shutdown decommissioning activities report to the NRC and the affected states. The report must include a description of the planned de-commissioning activities (DECON, SAFSTOR or ENTOMB), a schedule for their completion, a discussion of how site-specific decommissioning activities will adhere to previously issued environmental impact statements, and an estimate of expected costs. The licensee will be denied access to the full amount of the decommissioning funds during operations until the site-specific cost estimate is submitted to the NRC.

The NRC reviews the report and holds public meetings to discuss the company’s plans and the regulatory oversight process. At the end of 90 days, if the NRC has no objections, the company may begin decommissioning.

Routine activities, such as maintenance and disposal of small radioactive components, may be performed before the end of the 90-day waiting period. Major decommissioning activities include the permanent removal of major radioactive components—such as the reactor vessel, steam generators or other components that are comparably radioactive—as well as permanent changes to the containment structure.

Unless the licensee receives permission to the contrary, the site must be decommissioned within 60 years. Until the license is terminated, the licensee remains accountable to the NRC. The licensee must submit a license termination plan at least two years before the termination date.

The NRC will make the plan available to the public for comment and schedule a public meeting near the facility to discuss its contents. The public also has the opportunity to request adju-dicatory hearings. Once public concerns are addressed, the NRC will approve the plan—assuming it demonstrates that the remaining decommissioning activities will be performed according to federal regulations and that they will not adversely affect public health and safety or the environment.

Finally, if the NRC determines that all work followed the approved license termination plan––and if the final radiation survey demonstrates that the facility and site are suitable for release––the agency will terminate the license, thus completing the decommissioning process.