CSA N294:19

Decommissioning of facilities containing nuclear substances

REVISED AUGUST 2020

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  Revision History

  CSA N294:19, Decommissioning of facilities containing nuclear substances

  
  

  Administrative update — August 2020

  Legal notice page: “Legal Notice for Draft Standards” replaced by “Legal Notice for Standards”

  
  

  Standards Update Service

  CSA N294:19

  November 2019

  
  

  Title: Decommissioning of facilities containing nuclear substances

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CSA N294:19

Decommissioning of facilities containing nuclear substances

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© 2019 Canadian Standards Association

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the prior permission of the publisher.

CSA N294:19 Decommissioning of facilities containing nuclear substances

Contents

Technical Committee on Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities 4

Preface 7

0 Introduction 9

1. General 9

2. Background 9

3. Application 9

4. Interface with other CSA Group Standards 9

5. Decommissioning phases 10

1. Scope 12

   
   

2. Reference publications 12

   
   

3. Definitions 18

   
   

4. Responsibilities 21

   1. General 21

   2. Compliance with regulations 21

   3. Compliance with CSA N286 22

   4. Support programs 22

      
      

5. General requirements 22

   1. Stages of the facility life cycle 22

      1. General 22

      2. Siting 23

      3. Design, construction, and commissioning 23

      4. Operation and maintenance 24

      5. Decommissioning 24

      6. End-state verification 24

      7. Institutional control 24

   2. Records 25

      1. Siting records 25

      2. Design, construction, and commissioning records 25

      3. Operation and maintenance records 25

      4. Permanent shutdown and transition records 25

      5. Decommissioning records 26

   3. Public and Indigenous communication and engagement 26

      1. General 26

      2. Target audiences 27

   4. Characterization 27

      1. Site characterization 27

      2. Facility characterization 27

      3. Waste characterization 28

   5. Waste management strategy 28

   6. Hazard assessment 28

      
      

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      CSA N294:19 Decommissioning of facilities containing nuclear substances

      
      

   7. End-state 28

   8. Quality assurance 28

      
      

6. Phase 1 — Planning for decommissioning 29

   1. Decommissioning strategy 29

      1. General 29

      2. Decommissioning strategy options 29

      3. Strategy considerations 29

   2. Initial decommissioning plan 30

      1. General 30

      2. Ongoing review and revision 31

      3. Cost estimate for decommissioning 31

         
         

7. Phase 2 — Preparation for decommissioning 31

   1. General 31

   2. Notification 32

   3. Permanent shutdown 32

   4. Transition from permanent shutdown state to decommissioning 32

      1. General 32

      2. Removal of materials and preparation of systems 33

      3. Monitoring and maintenance 33

   5. Assessment of the state of the facility after shutdown 33

      1. General 33

      2. Investigation and assessment 33

      3. Scoping and characterization surveys 34

   6. Planning 35

      1. Requirements for nuclear facilities 35

      2. Detailed decommissioning plan 35

      3. SWS plan 35

      4. Safety assessment of the facilities undergoing decommissioning 35

      5. Waste management plan 36

      6. Human resources plan 36

      7. Ongoing review and revision 37

         
         

8. Phase 3 — Execution of decommissioning 37

   1. Commencement of decommissioning activities 37

   2. Interim end-state report 39

   3. Periods of SWS 39

   4. Land remediation 40

   5. Final surveys 40

      
      

9. Phase 4 — Completion of decommissioning 40

   1. Final end-state 40

   2. Release of licensed facilities from regulatory control 41

      
      

10. Institutional controls following decommissioning 41

    1. Type and duration 41

    2. Protective measures 41

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CSA N294:19 Decommissioning of facilities containing nuclear substances

Annex A (informative) — Preliminary decommissioning plan 42 Annex B (informative) — Table of contents for a SWS plan 44 Annex C (normative) — Detailed decommissioning plan 45

Annex D (informative) — Safety assessments for decommissioning 47

Annex E (informative) — Final end-state report 48

Annex F (informative) — Defining end-state objectives for decommissioning 51

Annex G (informative) — Surveys 55

Annex H (informative) — Decommissioning of complex sites 61

Annex I (informative) — Decommissioning of high energy reactor facilities 66

Annex J (informative) — Recommended approaches for the decommissioning of mine waste rock and mill tailings 71

Annex K (informative) — Decommissioning of facilities (other than Class I or Class II) 74

Annex L (informative) — Bibliography 78

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CSA N294:19 Decommissioning of facilities containing nuclear substances

1. Scope

   
   

   1.1

   This Standard applies to the decommissioning of nuclear facilities and other locations where nuclear substances are managed, possessed, or stored.

   Notes:

   1. Users are responsible for determining the extent to which this Standard applies to a given facility or location and for consulting the associated regulatory requirements.

   2. Annexes J, H, K, and I contain recommended approaches for the decommissioning of mine waste rock and mill tailings, complex sites, small facilities other than Class I or II, and high energy reactor facilities, respectively.

      
      

      1.2

      This Standard does not apply to the decommissioning of facilities or equipment involving only

      1. naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM);

      2. technologically enhanced, naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM); or

      3. radiation-emitting devices.

         Notes:

         1. In Canada, radiation-emitting devices includes those consumer and medical devices regulated under the Radiation Emitting Devices Act and similar industrial radiation-emitting devices regulated by the provinces.

         2. This Standard provides guidance that might be useful for facilities and sites containing the materials and equipment specified in this Clause.

   
   

   1.3

   It might be necessary, for functional purposes (e.g., reuse of a building) or for the mitigation of risk and cost escalation, to rehabilitate part of a facility during operation (e.g., in a redundant building or mined- out pit). Though rehabilitation is not specifically addressed in this Standard, the methodology and principles of decommissioning may be applied to the rehabilitation of a portion of a facility.

   Note: Regulatory approval might be required for rehabilitation work.

   
   

   1.4

   In this Standard, “shall” is used to express a requirement, i.e., a provision that the user is obliged to satisfy in order to comply with the standard; “should” is used to express a recommendation or that which is advised but not required; and “may” is used to express an option or that which is permissible within the limits of the Standard.

   Notes accompanying clauses do not include requirements or alternative requirements; the purpose of a note accompanying a clause is to separate from the text explanatory or informative material.

   
   

   Notes to tables and figures are considered part of the table or figure and may be written as requirements.

   
   

   Annexes are designated normative (mandatory) or informative (non-mandatory) to define their application.

   
   

2. Reference publications

This Standard refers to the following publications, and where such reference is made, it shall be to the edition listed below, including all amendments published thereto.

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