The Decommissioning of the Water Boiler Reactor

Abstract

Following completion of service, the Water Boiler Reactor (WBR) has been decommissioned by the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research (INER) under the Atomic Energy Council's (AEC) regulation. The WBR is a light water moderated and graphite reflected research reactor with peak thermal power of 100 kW. The unique feature of the WBR is that it is fueled with uranyl sulfate (UO₂SO₄) which is in liquid form. Since there is another research reactor owned by INER of megawatt scale in the planning stages for decommissioning, the WBR project was conducted with great care to accumulate experience. Extensive planning by INER and step-by-step regulative activities by AEC were followed regardless of the structural simplicity of the WBR. Valuable information was gathered in the task and will be useful for preparing future decommissioning needs. The major work in the WBR decommissioning project was finished within six months and the accumulated dose received during the work was 19.63mSv.