RAD300 Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation

The course provides students with the fundamental concepts for planning, managing, and implementing decommissioning and environmental remediation (D&ER) projects in a multidisciplinary context. It is intended to be open to students with a wide educational background, to give them the general competence needed for tackling an MSc in the area of D&ER. Contents cover:

1. Basics of Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation (D&ER): Historical perspective of D&ER; General legal and regulatory requirements; Principles of radiation protection as applied to D&ER exposure situations (planned/existing, dose limits, reference levels); Integrated approach for D&ER; Stakeholder involvement and communication; Sustainability and Circular Economy Approaches.
2. Decommissioning: Objectives of decommissioning; Facilities that need decommissioning; Life cycle of the facility; Decommissioning results; Policies and strategies for decommissioning; Decommissioning planning; Site characterisation; Future use of the site and final state of the site; Case studies.
3. Environmental Remediation (ER): Basic objectives of environmental remediation; Conceptual site model; Policy and strategy for environmental remediation; Basic steps of the environmental remediation process; End state determinations and future use; Long-term management and institutional control; Case studies: Sites contaminated by residual radioactive material from past and/or existing activities (e.g., uranium mining and milling) and areas affected by nuclear or radiological accidents.

Knowledge: Students will understand the situations in which Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation (D&ER) apply. Students will understand the different stages of D&ER projects, including the objectives, technical challenges, project planning and management, key regulatory guidance, as well as the links to broader issues such as sustainability, stakeholder involvement and communication.

Skills: The students will be able to define and enunciate the critical steps of D&ER projects such as site characterization, the definition of future use and final state of the site and demonstrating conformance with legal and regulatory requirements. They will be able to frame D&ER situations with basic radioprotection principles and exposure situations (e.g., planned, existing). Through analysis of real-life case studies, students will be able to synthesize relevant information and apply the knowledge gained to practical applications.

General Competence: The students will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of decommissioning and environmental remediation in a multidisciplinary context. They will learn how to apply critical thinking to the evaluation of case-studies, building on lessons learned from past experience. They will also achieve experience in presenting and discussing technical and scientific work, orally and in writing.