DfD: An Approach to New Reactor Designs

Features relevant to decommissioning are now becoming a part of the design process for the new nuclear power reactors. This is a significant contrast to when the currently operating reactors were designed several decades ago and when decommissioning was not given much thought during the design process. At a time of nuclear renaissance (even with a slowdown in the post-Fukushima accident era), when many reactors are in various construction stages and many more planned, design considerations for decommissioning will have a significant impact on these projects. The goals are to have fewer components, provide modular designs for construction and eventual deconstruction, address major component removal issues, minimize the generation of radioactive waste, and provide for better radiological safety. This paper lays out a framework of the Designing for Decommissioning (DfD) approach.