Deconstructing Berkeley

摘要

Berkeley was commissioned in 1962 and operated until 1989. Its decommissioning began with the removal of fuel from the reactors. The de-fueling was finished in March 1992 and various activities followed, including removal of the gas ducts, boilers, non-active ancillary plant, asbestos and refurbishment of the reactor buildings. The cooling ponds were formally used for the storage of irradiated fuel elements prior to their despatch for reprocessing. Phase 1 was carried out by Jordan Engineering between June 1994 and April 1996. In this initial phase, redundant plant and equipment were removed, as well as loose and near surface contamination within the pond tanks to a depth of 2mm. Following drainage of the ponds, ultra high pressure water jetting was applied using a remotely operated arm to traverse the pond walls and remove the pond tank coating.