ROME (ITALPRESS) – Sogin has begun in the Caorso power plant, the dismantling activities of systems and components inside the reactor building, a crucial step in the decommissioning program of the Emilian plant, as it marks the attack on the heart of the plant. Specifically, “spooling” operations have begun in which technicians are plotting cut points to dismantle systems and components into pieces. This work is necessary to ensure that each item can be easily identified and grouped according to the plant system of origin and its possible contamination. Activities conducted so far have included the installation of the site electrical system and will continue with the installation of the means for handling the dismantled materials and the setting up of the facility to perform hot cuts, specifically designed to deal with components that are more complex in size and thickness. The first systems and components to be dismantled will be those placed at ground level. A choice dictated by the need to free up space for the passage of materials from the other floors of the reactor building. In fact, on the ground floor there is a confined corridor, called waste route, built by Sogin, where the cut components will be safely transferred to the turbine building to be eventually decontaminated, cut and further reduced in volume to facilitate their subsequent management. The decommissioning project is divided into “areas,” each of which has a detailed decommissioning plan. This planning ensures compliance with the safety criteria and requirements specified by Isin, the National Inspectorate for National Safety and Radiation Protection. A total of 3,400 tons of material will be dismantled, of which about 88 percent will be releasable after the necessary treatment and decontamination operations, while the remaining 12 percent will be managed as radioactive waste and stored in temporary storage facilities at the site pending transfer to the National Repository once available. (ITALPRESS).-Photo: Sogin press office-
