Nuclear reactor can it be torn down? ?

Question

I was told that old nuclear reactors cannot be torn down. That they need to be sealed in lead concrete when they come obsolete . I live near San Onofre power plant.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Demolition of nuclear power stations can be done. It is a slow process from start to finish but it is done. In London Greenwich an educational establishment had a research reactor. Now the reactor is gone, all contamination has been removed and the site has been completely restored for other uses.

After the reactor has been shutdown and the decay heat has dropped to safe levels, maybe a number of months, the fuel will be removed. This used fuel is highly radioactive, it also continues to produce heat and will be taken to facilities known as 'core ponds' where it will remain until the fission products ( what the uranium becomes as it's used up) have decayed enough to make the fuel safe enough to treat or re-process.

Once the fuel has been removed, the rest of the reactor is just pipework containing some radioactive materials. The dismantling of the remaining plant is a very carefully controlled and slow process in order to prevent any traces of radioactive material escaping. Though still radioactive, old reactor plant does not continue to produce heat after the removal of the fuel.

One common way to make the dismantling of a reactor safer is to wait for the radioactive materials in it to decay away. After thirty years or so 90% of the remaining radioactivity has decayed away and so the process of dismantling is made much easier and safer.  

Answer 2

It absolutely can: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/...

it DOES have to be encased in lead (the reactor itself), but it can be moved and stored else ware.  The cooling towers get demolished/blown up.

Answer 3

Depends on the amount of radiation and the surrounding environment.