The Expert Group on a Holistic Process for Decision Making on Decommissioning and Management of Complex Sites (HDCS) met for its plenary meeting on 9 December 2021. The group continues to make progress with its forthcoming report to describe the scope of complex and legacy site decommissioning. A topical session was held with the aim of providing insight to the decision-making process used in three member countries on different types of sites meeting the proposed scope. Participants from France opened the session introducing the approach taken by the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) to prioritise the large number of nuclear facilities to be dismantled simultaneously and introducing factors driving this optimisation. Contributions from Canada (Chalk River) and the United Kingdom (Dounreay) underlined the aim of the session by introducing the background and factors influencing their decision-making process. These examples, along with the collected experience of a lively discussion amongst the group’s members , will form the basis for developing the anticipated holistic process for decision making. The HDCS is also working towards providing guidelines for an integral progression from recognition to resolution to decommission and for the ongoing management of complex sites.
First established in June 2020 by the NEA Committee on Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and Legacy Management (CDLM), the HDCS serves as forum for international exchange and co-operation on decision making for complex sites with different levels of uncertainties.