The Impact of Digital Visualization on Enhancing Decommissioning Safety, Effectiveness and Efficiency

Abstract

Digital visualization is a powerful tool that can significantly enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of decommissioning processes. The decommissioning of nuclear facilities is complex, time-consuming, and costly, and digital visualization can be beneficial in helping to streamline the decommissioning process by providing a detailed, three-dimensional representation of the facility that can be used for planning, execution, and monitoring. Implementing Digital Visualization in decommissioning is anticipated to, directly and indirectly, increase the efficiency and effectiveness of decommissioning-related processes. This paper highlights the impact of digital visualization on enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of the decommissioning process and how Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) is applying it at their Chalk River Laboratories complex. A CNL case study shows some early gains in applying Digital Visualization to end-state reporting. Implementation of Digital visualization will allow CNL to enhance decommissioning processes and procedures as they progress their clean-up program to ensure the most efficient execution in a new era of remote and digital technology by holding and practicing the highest safety standards.