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L-Basin microbial monitoring program - evaluation of 20 years of monitoring

This report summarizes the results from over 20-years’ of activities for microbial monitoring of the bulk water, floc analysis, and test coupon surfaces for the Savannah River Site L Basin. The Microbial Monitoring Program provides important information for the characterization of overall water quality as it impacts the continued safe storage of spent nuclear fuel in L Basin. The potential impacts to fuel storage are: 1) microbial-influenced corrosion of the fuel; and 2) biofouling of the fuel storage systems.

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Validation of Non-Invasive Waste Assay System (Gamma Box Counter) Performance at AECL Whiteshell Laboratories - 13136

Low-level radioactive waste (LLW) in solid form, resulting from decommissioning and operations activities at AECL's Whiteshell Laboratories (WL), is packaged in B-25 and B-1000 standard waste containers and characterized before it is shipped to an on-site interim storage facility, pending AECL decisions on long term management of its LLW. Assay of the waste packages before shipment contributes to an inventory of the interim storage facility and provides data to support acceptance at a future repository. A key characterization step is a gamma spectrometric measurement carried out under standard conditions using an automated, multi-detector Waste Assay System (WAS), purchased from Antech Corporation. A combination of ORTEC gamma acquisition software and custom software is used in this system to incorporate multiple measurements from two collimated high-resolution detectors. The software corrects the intensities of the gamma spectral lines for geometry and attenuation, and generates a table of calculated activities or limits of detection for a user-defined list of radioisotopes that may potentially be present. Validation of WAS performance was a prerequisite to routine operation. Documentation of the validation process provides assurance of the quality of the results produced, which may be needed one or two decades after they were generated. Aspects of the validation included setting up a quality control routine, measurements of standard point sources in reproducible positions, study of the gamma background, optimization of user-selectable software parameters, investigation of the effect of non-uniform distribution of materials and radionuclides, and comparison of results with measurements made using other gamma detector systems designed to assay bulk materials. The following key components of the validation process have been established. A daily quality control routine has been instituted, to verify stability of the gamma detector operation and the background levels. A test box containing plywood (specific gravity 0.5) with holes for reproducible positioning of known point sources has been constructed and used in several configurations. Gamma spectra have been processed multiple times with user-adjustable parameters set to a variety of values to gain agreement on the most appropriate settings. A similar optimization process was followed with the custom software provided by the instrument manufacturer to reach agreement on the most stable settings for reliable results. Measurements made with the Canberra In-Situ Object Counting System (ISOCS) instrument were compared with the WAS results as part of an estimate of instrument precision and accuracy. The validation report will conclude with recommendations for the configuration, appropriate use and limitations of the Waste Assay System. (authors)

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New approaches for MOX multi-recycling

Due to its low fissile content after irradiation, Pu from used MOX fuel is considered by some as not recyclable in LWR (Light Water Reactors). The point of this paper is hence to go back to those statements and provide a new analysis based on AREVA extended experience in the fields of fissile and fertile material management and optimized waste management. This is done using the current US fuel inventory as a case study. MOX Multi-recycling in LWRs is a closed cycle scenario where U and Pu management through reprocessing and recycling leads to a significant reduction of the used assemblies to be stored. The recycling of Pu in MOX fuel is moreover a way to maintain the self-protection of the Pu-bearing assemblies. With this scenario, Pu content is also reduced repetitively via a multi-recycling of MOX in LWRs. Simultaneously, {sup 238}Pu content decreases. All along this scenario, HLW (High-Level Radioactive Waste) vitrified canisters are produced and planned for deep geological disposal. Contrary to used fuel, HLW vitrified canisters do not contain proliferation materials. Moreover, the reprocessing of used fuel limits the space needed on current interim storage. With MOX multi-recycling in LWR, Pu isotopy needs to be managed carefully all along the scenario. The early introduction of a limited number of SFRs (Sodium Fast Reactors) can therefore be a real asset for the overall system. A few SFRs would be enough to improve the Pu isotopy from used LWR MOX fuel and provide a Pu-isotopy that could be mixed back with multi-recycled Pu from LWRs, hence increasing the Pu multi-recycling potential in LWRs.

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DEMONSTRATION OF MIXING AND TRANSFERRING SETTLING COHESIVE SLURRY SIMULANTS IN THE AY-102 TANK

In support of Hanford's waste certification and delivery of tank waste to the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP), Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) was tasked by the Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) to evaluate the effectiveness of mixing and transferring tank waste in a Double Shell Tank (DST) to the WTP Receipt Tank. The work discussed in this report (Phase III) address the impacts cohesive simulants have on mixing and batch transfer performance. The objective of the demonstrations performed in Phase III was to determine the impact that cohesive particle interactions in the simulants have on tank mixing using 1/22{sup nd} scale mixing system and batch transfer of seed particles. This testing is intended to provide supporting evidence to the assumption that Hanford Small Scale Mixing Demonstration (SSMD) testing in water is conservative. The batch transfers were made by pumping the simulants from the Mixing Demonstration Tank (MDT) to six Receipt Tanks (RTs), and the consistency in the amount of seed particles in each batch was compared. Tests were conducted with non-Newtonian cohesive simulants with Bingham yield stress ranging from 0.3 Pa to 7 Pa. Kaolin clay and 100 {mu}m stainless steel seed particles were used for all the non-Newtonian simulants. To specifically determine the role of the yield stress on mixing and batch transfer, tests were conducted with a Newtonian mixture of glycerol and water with at viscosity of 6.2 cP that was selected to match the Bingham consistency (high shear rate viscosity) of the higher yield stress kaolin slurries. The water/glycerol mixtures used the same 100 {mu}m stainless steel seed particles. For the transfer demonstrations in Phase III, the mixer jet pumps were operated either at 10.0 gpm (28 ft/s nozzle velocity, U{sub o}D=0.63 ft{sup 2}/s) or 8.0 gpm (22.4 ft/s nozzle velocity, U{sub o}D=0.504 ft{sup 2}/s). All batch transfers from the MDT to the RTs were made at 0.58 gpm (MDT suction velocity 3.95 ft/s). The demonstrations that used simulants that ranged from 1.6 Pa to 7 Pa yield stress had the most successful batch transfer of solids to the RTs in terms of the total quantity of seed particles transferred. Testing suggest that when mixing water/seed particles and transferring, water provides the least desired batch transfer of solids based on the total quantity transferred. For the water tests, large dead zones of solids formed in the MDT and fewer solids get transferred to the RTs. For simulants with a yield stress of 0.3 Pa and below, the batch transfer behavior in terms of total transfer of seed particles was slightly higher than water test results. The testing did show somewhat more batch-to-batch variation in the transfer of seed particles with the slurries in comparison to water. A comparison of batch transfers with the kaolin slurries that had Bingham consistencies (viscosities) that wernearly the same as the Newtonian glycerol/water mixtures showed that the kaolin slurries with Bingham yield stresses of 1.6 and 7 Pa gave better batch transfer of seed particles based on the total quantities transferred. Overall, the batch transfer testing results show that testing with water is conservative, since using a simulant with a yield stress and/or elevated viscosity always resulted in a better total transfer of solids.

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ARIES Oxide Production Program: Monthly Report - May 2014

A summary of the accomplishments, milestones, financial summary, project performance and issues facing the ARIES Oxide Production Program for the end of May 2014 is presented in this Executive Summary.

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Prediction of Peak Hydrogen Concentrations for Deep Sludge Retrieval in Tanks AN-101 and AN-106 from Historical Data of Spontaneous Gas Release Events

Radioactive and chemical wastes from nuclear fuel processing are stored in large underground storage tanks at the Hanford Site. The Tank Operations Contractor is continuing a program of moving solid wastes from single-shell tanks (SSTs) to double-shell tanks (DSTs) and preparing for waste feed delivery (WFD). A new mechanism for a large spontaneous gas release event (GRE) in deep sludge sediments has been postulated. The creation of this potential new GRE hazard, deep sludge gas release events (DSGREs), is the retrieval of sludge waste into a single DST that results in a sediment depth greater than operating experience has demonstrated is safe. The Tank Operations Contractor program of moving solid wastes from SSTs to DSTs and preparing for WFD is being negatively impacted by this sediment depth limit.

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Gas composition observed by destructive examination of 3013 containers

The Department of Energy’s Integrated Surveillance and Monitoring Program implements requirements to measure gas pressure and gas composition during destructive examination of 3013 containers as required by DOE’s 3013 Standard. Gas pressures and gas compositions measured by the Program during destructive examination of 3013 containers from 2007 to 2017 are reported here. The maximum gas pressure within the population of containers that have undergone destructive examination was 299 kPa (43.4 psia) and this container had 0.52 wt% moisture which is higher than the Standard allows. The majority of containers have essentially no gas pressurization. Hydrogen was quantifiable above the measurement uncertainty in less than half (47 out of 114) of the containers that have undergone destructive examination. The amount of hydrogen that is generated within the sealed 3013 containers is always less than the amount predicted by the 3013 Standard’s pressure equation with the maximum observed hydrogen fraction (observed moles of hydrogen/predicted moles of hydrogen) of 0.18. It is recommended that for the purposes of calculating a maximum hydrogen pressure using the 3013 equation, a correction to the amount of hydrogen produced from decomposition of the water be incorporated. The pressure (or moles) of H 2 should be reduced by multiplying by a hydrogen fraction as described in the text. Helium and nitrogen are the other major constituents. Oxygen which is initially present in nearly all of the containers undergoing destructive examination was consumed to low values in all cases. The highest observed oxygen concentration was 1.7%, and in this case the H 2 concentration was essentially zero. Other minor gases observed in some cases included CO 2 with maximum content of 3.5%, CO with maximum content of 0.8%, N 2 O with maximum content of 1.4%, and CH 4 with maximum content of 0.4%.

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Criticality Safety Calculations for General Handling of B-25 Box

This project’s purpose is to determine the neutron multiplication factor (keff ) for the general handling of the B-25 Box in normal and credible abnormal conditions. This project is part of the container improvement effort at Y-12.

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FY25 Task 5: Small-Scale Mixing

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hanford Site has 177 underground storage tanks that contain a complex and diverse mix of chemical and radioactive wastes from past nuclear fuel reprocessing and waste management operations. The strategy of the DOE Hanford Field Office is to retrieve this waste, ~20 vol% of which is in the form of insoluble undissolved solids (UDS) or sludge, and treat it via immobilization at the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). The diverse properties and characteristics of Hanford tank waste lead to major challenges related to its transport from the underground tanks to the WTP. These challenges, however, can be addressed by investigating the behavior of tank waste samples and simulant materials and evaluating their behavior against the capabilities of mixing and transport system designs that may be incorporated to retrieve and treat the waste.

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Nuclear Safety [Vol. 37, No. 1, January-March 1996]

Nuclear Safety is a journal that covers significant issues in the field of nuclear safety. Its primary scope is safety in the design, construction, operation, and decommissioning of nuclear power reactors worldwide and the research and analysis activities that promote this goal, but it also encompasses the safety aspects of the entire nuclear fuel cycle, including fuel fabrication, spent-fuel processing and handling, and nuclear waste disposal, the handling of fissionable materials and radioisotopes, and the environmental effects of all these activities. Table of Contents for this issue follows. GENERAL SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS: 1 A Decision Support System for Maintenance Management of a Boiling-Water Reactor Power Plant, J. H. Shen, A. Ray, and S. Levine; ACCIDENT ANALYSIS: 12 On Prediction of the Ignition Potential of Uranium Metal and Hydride, M. Epstein, W. Luangdilok, M. G. Plys, and H. K. Fauske; 26 An Overview of the Primary Parameters and Methods for Determining Condensation Heat Transfer to Containment Structures, J. Green and K. Almenas; DESIGN FEATURES: 49 Modem Tornado Design of Nuclear and Other Potentially Hazardous Facilities, J. D. Stevenson and Y. Zaho; U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION INFORMATION AND ANALYSES: 73 1994 Accident Sequence Precursor Program Results, R. J. Belles, J. W. Cletcher, D. A. Coplnger, B. W. Dolan, J. W. Minarick, and P. D. O'Reilly; ANNOUNCEMENTS: 93 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AlChE) Spring 1997 National Meeting; 94 European Safety and Reliability Association International Conference on Safety and Reliability ESREL ’97; 95 Criticality Safety Challenges in the Next Decade; 96 21st International Symposium on the Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management; 84 The Authors; 88 Letter to the Editor; 90 Indexes to Nuclear Safety, Volume 36.

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Update on site selection for Canada's national repository for used nuclear fuel - 15481

In 2007, the Government of Canada selected Adaptive Phased Management as Canada's plan that provides for long-term management of Canada's used nuclear fuel in a deep geological repository, located in an informed and willing host. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization is tasked through federal legislation to select the site and develop and manage all aspects of Canada's plan. In May 2010 the Nuclear Waste Management Organization published and initiated the site selection process that serves as a road map for decision-making on the location for the deep geological repository. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization continues to lead the site selection process for a deep geological repository for the long term management of Canada's used nuclear fuel and centre of expertise. The screening down process is advancing and, from an initial starting point of 22 communities expressing interest in learning about the project, as of November 2014 14 communities are now the focus of more detailed studies. Preliminary assessments are underway with these communities, which is the third step in the 9 step site selection process. Preliminary assessments involve preliminary technical and social desktop and field assessments, engagement activities within and beyond the interested community and seeking involvement of Indigenous peoples and nearby municipalities in the planning and conduct of the work. The paper provides an update on the advancement of the site selection process. It describes the nature of the technical and social studies being conducted at this phase of work, including the progressively more detailed field studies which are the focus of technical work at this stage, approach to engagement and collaboration with communities to direct these studies, and the work underway to ensure the framework used for this assessment and engagement includes the range of priorities and perspectives of First Nations and Metis peoples and communities in the broader area. (authors)

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Overview of Canada's Plan for the Long-Term Management of Used Nuclear Fuel - 19537

In June 2007, the Government of Canada approved the Nuclear Waste Management Organisation's (NWMO) recommended Adaptive Phased Management (APM) approach for the long-term management of Canada's used nuclear fuel. As per this approach, used nuclear fuel will be isolated and contained in a centralized Deep Geological Repository (DGR) located in a stable crystalline or sedimentary rock formation at a nominal depth of 500 metres below ground surface. The DGR concept contains multiple barriers to safely contain and isolate the used nuclear fuel over the long-term. The used nuclear fuel bundles will be encapsulated in a copper-coated steel Used Fuel Container (UFC) and pre-packaged in a bentonite clay buffer box above ground. The UFC and bentonite clay buffer box assemblies will then be emplaced in excavated tunnel openings and sealed with clay-based backfill material and room seals, which completes the primary Engineered Barrier System (EBS). Since 2011, the NWMO has executed a design-development program to validate the design and manufacturing technologies for the EBS. Currently, the NWMO are executing a proof test program for the EBS for the purpose of demonstrating serial production. As the prototypes are produced, they will be subject to full-scale in-room emplacement trials within a custom-built above-ground mock emplacement room. The proof test program will be executed using APM reference designs, materials, processes, and procedures. An overview of this program is discussed. (authors)

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Infrastructure and DFLAW Support at Hanford - 20443

Manhattan Project era infrastructure systems are degrading at an accelerated pace across the Department of Energy's (DOE) Environmental Management complex. Revitalizing, rejuvenating and right-sizing these systems to ensure reliability for ongoing cleanup missions is a major focus at the 580-square- mile Hanford Site in southeast Washington State. The push to complete construction, commissioning, startup, and operation of facilities and systems in the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) program at Hanford by 2023 requires considerable coordination among site contractors and a significant investment in infrastructure. The passage of time also poses a challenge. It has been about 75 years since facilities were first operated at the site, and approximately 40 years of plutonium production created a legacy of unidentified active and abandoned underground obstacles and waste sites that must be avoided when building and upgrading the infrastructure. Converting infrastructure systems originally built to support plutonium production from the 1940's to the 1980's and upgrading those systems to optimize technology is an ever-changing balance of funding profiles, available resources and execution strategies. The DOE Richland Operations Office (RL) has long recognized the need for increased investment in Hanford Site infrastructure to support the future processing of approximately 56 million gallons of waste currently stored in large underground tanks. When DFLAW is fully operational, safe and reliable infrastructure systems will be needed to ensure continuity of operations around the clock, 365 days a year. These include roadways, water, power, sewer, information technology systems and facilities. To ensure the readiness of Hanford's infrastructure to support treating tank waste in the next three years, 15 projects were identified with a combined value of $133.8 million. Through calendar year 2019, 7 infrastructure projects have been substantially completed and the remaining 8 projects, with a remaining value of $103.8 million, are scheduled to be completed by December 2023. RL and its site services/infrastructure contractor, Mission Support Alliance (MSA), regularly evaluate the needs of the DFLAW program and other Hanford Site missions to ensure the highest priority systems are addressed. In addition to a fast-approaching deadline for round-the-clock treatment operations, RL and MSA face another significant infrastructure challenge. As cleanup is being completed in a 220-square-mile area called the River Corridor, most of the cleanup operations going forward will occur in a 20-square-mile area in the center of the Hanford Site, known as the Central Plateau. Infrastructure systems are becoming more congested in an already overcrowded area. This paper/presentation will outline some of the challenges Hanford faces while executing infrastructure reliability projects. (authors)

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Deadtime Calculations of Liquid Scintillator Neutron Detector Using Attenuation Law

Scientists have been working on deadtime problems for radiation detectors since 1940's. In detector systems, a minimum time must separate two different events before they can be measured individually. That minimum time interval is called to be deadtime of detector system. There are two commonly deadtime models: the paralyzing and the non-paralyzing models. Paralyzing model assumes that each event during the deadtime will reset the deadtime and deadtime extension will depend on the count rate. According to the non-paralyzing model, deadtime is fixed after each detected event and all events occurring during deadtime are lost. In this study, deadtime measurements have been obtained for an N-Probe fast neutron (NE-213 Liquid Scintillation) detector manufactured by BTI (Bubble Technology Industries) using a combination of the attenuation law and the assumption of ideal paralyzing and non-paralyzing method. Bubble Technology Industries (BTI) has manufactured a portable neutron scintillation spectrometer (N-Probe) with potential applications at nuclear reactor facilities, waste processing operations, and spent fuel storage areas. The deadtime of the N-Probe detector is not provided by the manufacturer; BTI, and there is no other study published on the N-Probe detector' deadtime. Since the detector will be used in future nuclear fuel investigations, it is important to determine the detector' deadtime for accurate nuclear fuel analysis. The deadtime of the BTI N-Probe was examined using different thicknesses of Plexiglas at the Missouri University of Science and Technology Reactor (MSTR) using attenuation law and average macroscopic cross-section of Plexiglas defined by both paralyzing and non-paralyzing model. (authors)

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Equity Considerations in Siting Consolidated Interim Storage Facilities for Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel

Questions of equity and fairness are often raised by representatives from State, Tribal and local governments and members of the public when resolving conflicts over siting of nuclear facilities. However, the two terms are not synonymous: equity can be quantified while fairness is much more subjective. The Department of Energy's (DOE) December 2021 Request for Information sought input on how to site federal facilities for the temporary, consolidated storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) using a consent-based approach. It is anticipated that just such questions about equity and fairness associated with the potential emergence of more than one host site may be raised by the twelve groups of university, nonprofit and private sector partners (Consortia) working to support community engagement, inclusively involve stakeholders, build relationships, and develop innovative forms of mutual learning and public capacity to participate in the consent-based siting process for a federal consolidated interim storage facility during the current Planning & Capacity Building stage of the consent-based siting process. In terms of DOE's Integrated Waste Management System (IWMS), sociopolitical equity concepts are a factor in all aspects of IWMS development and operations and will be particularly applicable should two or more host sites become a possibility, either by the emergence of multiple volunteer hosts or by pursuit as a IWMS program strategy. This paper summarizes recent analyses that explore how four equity metrics - number of states, division of the projected SNF total by the year 2083, current population and land area - might be perceived by host communities, states and regions if two, three or four sites for hosting federal consolidated interim storage facilities were to be contemporaneously realized. Existing institutional arrangements, including Nuclear Regulatory Commission regions, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regions and Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compacts, were selected to create hypothetically merged two, three and four-region scenarios to calculate how the four metrics balance out. Projected SNF burden was prioritized with regional contiguity of the consolidated regions a requirement for a functional scenario. The intent was not to promote or suggest any construct as a program objective; the configurations are geopolitical abstractions only to explore potential perceptions of equity. Understanding the possible issues of equity that could arise may benefit program efforts toward achieving a cooperative federalism wherein both the federal and multiple State governments share the goal of manifesting more than one federal consolidated interim storage facility. The main finding is that it is not possible to optimize for all four metrics simultaneously. The analyses demonstrate that trying to create a sense of equity by backfitting a solution to a random population and land distribution will always contain a degree of artificiality.

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Effects of Radial Hydrides on PWR Cladding Ductility following Drying and Storage

The purpose of this research effort is to determine the effects of canister and/or cask drying, transfer and storage on radial hydride precipitation in, and potential embrittlement of, high-burnup (HBU) pressurized water reactor (PWR) cladding alloys during cooling for a range of peak drying-storage temperature (PCT) values and hoop stresses. Extensive radial-hydride precipitation could lower failure hoop stresses and strains, relative to limits established for as-irradiated cladding from discharged fuel rods, at temperatures below the ductility transition temperature (DTT), which has been referred to as the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) in previous reports. During post-storage transport, hoop stresses will be induced by “pinch -type” loading at grid spacers. Such loading is considered to be mild for normal conditions of transport and more severe for hypothetical accident conditions.

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Regulation of the First British Power Reactor to Enter into an Extended Period of 'Care and Maintenance' - 18028

All eleven of the British first-generation Magnox nuclear power plants have now ceased operating and are in various stages of decommissioning. The Magnox reactors were graphite moderated, using carbon dioxide as the primary coolant. The reactor cores are contained in steel reactor pressure vessels, except for the last two stations which have pre-stressed concrete pressure vessels. All but two of the Magnox reactor stations have been completely de-fueled. The spent fuel removed has been despatched for reprocessing at Sellafield in the north-west of England. On behalf of the UK government the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is responsible for cleaning up the majority of the civil nuclear legacy. The current NDA decommissioning strategy is to prepare the Magnox reactor sites for an extended period of Care and Maintenance (C and M), during which quiescent safe storage will take place (also known as safe enclosure), whereby the cores and associated structures will accrue the benefits of radioactive decay over a period of decades. This will reduce the radiation doses to workers during final dismantling and site clearance. The two Magnox rector units at the Bradwell licensed nuclear site in the south-east of England are the first scheduled to enter this quiescent safe-storage period. This is planned to commence in the second-half of 2018, and is scheduled to last for around 70 years. The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is the independent regulatory body, responsible for enforcing safety and security requirements at nuclear installations in Great Britain (GB). This paper outlines the national strategic context and how ONR's regulatory regime is applied to nuclear power plant decommissioning. It addresses some of the specific challenges posed at Bradwell during the preparatory works for entry to C and M and how ONR has addressed these. It describes how this will culminate in a regulatory decision on the acceptability of the safety and security of the Bradwell site to enter this new stage of its life cycle. Over the last few years ONR has assessed and inspected various safety aspects of decommissioning, radioactive waste management and other preparations for Bradwell's entry into C and M. Some of the operator's proposals have provided challenges to ONR, particularly where there have been changes to established approaches taken at other sites, as the licensee seeks to minimise its costs. These have included how far to remove redundant structures, systems and components prior to C and M; how to define interim and end-states for fuel cooling ponds and other contaminated areas; and how to treat and store Intermediate Level Waste (ILW), for which there is no geological disposal facility yet available. ONR has begun its final assessment of safety and security justifications supplied by the site licensee, Magnox Ltd (ML). ONR is using its legal powers conferred to it under the site licence conditions to authorise this first-of-a-kind transition into a 70 year period of safe storage. (authors)

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