CONCEPT PAPER

NEA Workshop on theInnovative Techniques andTechnologies to Support
Characterisation andDecommissioning ofComplex and Legacy Sites
29 November to 1 December 2022
Boulogne-Billancourt, FranceNEA Workshop on the Innovative Techniques and Technologies
to Support Characterisation and Decommissioningof Complex and Legacy Sites

CONCEPT PAPER
29 November – 1 December,
2022

Background:
The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Working Party on Technical, Environmental andSafety Aspects of Decommissioning and Legacy Management (WPTES)1 is organising
an international workshop on Innovative Techniques and Technologies to SupportCharacterisation and Decommissioning of Complex and Legacy Sites. Topics will
include innovative site and radiological characterisation, as well as decommissioning
techniques and technologies. The workshop will also provide information on
application of existing technologies to new problems including lessons learnt, bestpractices and overcoming challenges associated with use of existing technologies. The
workshop will welcome participants from various fields of expertise involved indecommissioning of complex and legacy sites including implementers,
government/regulatory agencies, academia, and researchers. Regulators are part of theaudience for this workshop and presentations on regulatory concerns and perspectives
should be included.
The workshop contributions and main discussion topics will be summarised inworkshop proceedings which will ultimately provide input to a WPTES technical report
to better understand (i) the state of the art in technologies and techniques related tocharacterisation, and decommissioning of complex and legacy nuclear sites andinstallations, (ii) key issues and challenges associated with implementation oftechnologies and techniques, and (iii) good practices and methods for implementationof techniques and technologies considering risk to workers and members of the public,and waste generation.

1

https://www.oecd-nea.org/tools/mandates/index/id/9918/lang/en_gb

Objectives:
The workshop aims to:

To better understand current state of art of technologies and techniques used incharacterisation and decommissioning of complex and legacy sites2 (e.g.,radiological and site characterisation, decontamination, dismantling, demolition,material/waste management, and risk assessment).
To better understand challenges to successful implementation of innovativetechniques and technologies including additional research, regulatory acceptance,and availability of guidance.
To better understand how risk assessment influences decommissioning activities
including characterisation, decontamination, remedial and final status survey
decision-making.
To better understand good practices and methods for implementation of techniques
and technologies
To provide recommendations for future work of the WPTES task groups andWPTES Expert Group.

Technical sessions will focus on obtaining information to support the five objectives.
Conference proceedings will be published presenting major findings and conclusionsfrom the workshop presentations and panel discussions. Rapporteurs will be available
to take notes and assist session leads with summarising key points. The results obtained
from the workshop will be used to identify data gaps either explicitly or implicitly
determined from a review of workshop findings and recommendations.

Workshop format:
It is proposed to organise a three-day workshop consisting of 4 sessions (including anopening and closing/summary session). They will include plenary presentations,followed by either panel discussions or break-out sessions where all the participants
will work on understanding, brainstorming and providing solutions to key issues. The
preliminary outline is as follows (a separate agenda will be developed):
2

Welcome session:o Welcome remarkso Introduction of participantso Keynote Speaker(s)Session 1: Innovative Techniques and Technologies for Radiological and Site Characterisationo Sub Topic 1.1: Innovative Techniques and Technologies for Radiological andSite Characterisation (General)o Sub Topic 1.2: Innovative Techniques and Technologies for Radiological Characterisation of Buildings and Structureso Sub Topic 1.3: Innovative Technologies/Modeling/Tools to support, D&D

Complex and legacy sites mean different things to different member countries. In this context,
complex decommissioning sites could include nuclear power plants, fuel cycle facilities, radioactive materials sites with buried or subsurface residual radioactivity. Legacy sites include buildings and structures, as well as surface and subsurface soils and water. Legacy sites are characterized as those having radioactivity which is of concern to the regulator; and for which cleanup or remediation is incomplete (OECD, 1999). Typically, legacy sites are “unrecognised” (e.g.,a remote and unused uranium mining/milling site), or “abandoned” (e.g. a building historicallyused for manufacture of radium products) or are “long-term unused or redundant” (e.g., an old
hot cell facility not currently in use but located on a controlled or regulated site)(OECD, 1999).

o





Sub Topic 1.4: Innovative Techniques and Technologies for Surveys of Subsurface Soils and Groundwatero Sub Topic 1.5: Innovative Techniques and Technologies for Radiological andSite Characterization of Land
Session 2: Innovative Decontamination and Decommissioning Technologies andGood Practices for Implementation of Technologies
o Sub Topic 2.1: General Session Innovative Technologies to support D&D
o Sub Topic 2.2: Innovative Technologies to support D&D
Summary Session:o Summary by Session Chairso Plenary discussion of key items
o Workshop Chair final remarks

Venue:
Only registered participants will be allowed access. Please have the pre-registered QR
and an ID ready. Plan with 15-30 min for admission, at least on the first day:
Address:
Nuclear Energy Agency
46, quai Alphonse Le Gallo92100 Boulogne-BillancourtFrance
How to get to the NEA

Meeting Room:BB Auditorium

Workshop language:
Working language is English.

Registration:
Interested participants are requested to complete the registration on the public workshop
webpage (link below) by 15 November 2022. The number of workshop attendees isrestricted based on the venue and hygiene measures in place.

Workshop webpage:
The workshop webpage can be accessed through the following link:
https://www.oecd-nea.org/jcms/pl_71664/

Expected outcome:As a result of the workshop, organisers expect to publish conference proceedings toprovide information on the state of the art, lessons learnt and good practices related toinnovative characterisation and decommissioning technologies. The conferenceproceedings will provide recommendations for future work on the WPTES task groups
as well as provide information to guide the scope of work of the Expert Group on
Innovative Characterisation and Decommissioning Technologies and Techniques and afuture technical report in this area.

Workshop Chair:
The workshop will be (co-)chaired by:Cynthia BARR

NRC, US

Programme Committee:
The Programme Committee (PC) members for the developing of the programme andpreparation for the workshop are:Cynthia BARR
Steve HARDY
Thomas BRAUNROTH
Norbert MOLITOR
Marc PEYROTEmilio GARCIA NERI
Rick REID
Kim BAINES

NRC, USNDA, UKGRS, Germany
Plejades, Germany
CEA, France
ENRESA, Spain
EPRI, US
IAEA

Sofía LUQUE
Arne LARSSON
Vincent GORGUES
Rebecca TADESSE
Martin BRANDAUER
Zhuoran LI

CNS, Spain
Cyclife Sweden AB, Sweden
CEA, France
NEA Head of RWMD Division
NEA RWMD
NEA RWMD

Key preparatory milestones:
Opening of Registration

15 July 2022

Deadline for submission of presentation

08 November 2022

Deadline of Registration

15 November 2022

Contacts:
For more information regarding this document, please contact Martin BRANDAUER(Martin.BRANDAUER@oecd-nea.org) and Zhuoran LI(Zhuoran.li@oecd-nea.org).
For further information regarding the logistics, please contact Teresa ALONSO DE
VILLAPADIERNA (teresa.villapadierna@oecd-nea.org).

Related links:
NEA
WPTES
Workshop Webpage

www.oecd-nea.org/
https://www.oecd-nea.org/tools/mandates/index/id/9918/lang/en_gb
https://www.oecd-nea.org/jcms/pl_71664/

Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)
46, quai Alphonse Le Gallo
92100 Boulogne-Billancourt, France
nea@oecd-nea.org www.oecd-nea.org
Cover photos: Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot (Create Ltd); CORIS360 spatz (ANSTO); Drone testing (PNNL); Robot milling tool (KIT).