Power plant decommissioning successfully demonstrated on the Sodium Reactor Experiment

The completion of the Sodium Reactor Experiment (SRE) decommissioning project provides further evidence that nuclear power plants can be decommissioned safely and for reasonable costs. The SRE project is defined and the major decommissioning activities and accomplishments are discussed. All decommissioning activities were accomplished without major problems; supporting development work was required; however, no new ''inventions'' were needed. There was no measurable radiation exposure to the surrounding public during the decommissioning. Radiation exposures to the project crews were well below allowable criteria. The cost for decommissioning is approximately 10% of the current cost to build a duplicate facility. The site and facilities have been restored for future, unrestricted use.