Are there alternatives to decommissioning?
NRC’s regulations require decommissioning at the end of the licensing period. The alternative to decommissioning is “no action, implying that a licensee abandons or leaves a facility after ceasing operations. This is not a viable alternative to decommissioning. Decommissioning restores a nuclear facility to such a condition that there is no unacceptable risk from the facility to public health and safety or the environment. To ensure that the risk from a facility is within acceptable bounds, some action is required. If nuclear power plants were not decommissioned, they could degrade and become radiological hazards.
NRC’s regulations require decommissioning at the end of the licensing period. The alternative to decommissioning is “no action,” implying that a licensee abandons or leaves a facility after ceasing operations. This is not a viable alternative to decommissioning. Decommissioning restores a nuclear facility to such a condition that there is no unacceptable risk from the facility to public health and safety or the environment. To ensure that the risk from a facility is within acceptable bounds, some action is required. If nuclear power plants were not decommissioned, they could degrade and become radiological hazards.
