Decommissioning of CANDU fuel intermediary repository

The paper addresses the general issues concerning a decommissioning plan for CANDU fuel intermediary repository facility. Romania is the only country in the European Union using CANDU type nuclear reactors. The back end of the fuel cycle includes transfer to the reactor spent fuel storage pool, transfer from there to the intermediary spent fuel repository, and final disposal in a specialized unit. In the long range, the intermediary repository has to be decommissioned and the location turned to its initial status. Before the final site decommissioning, the spent nuclear fuel must be relocated to the final repository. Transport and handling has to be done safely, avoiding environmental contamination and nuclear hazard, thus, radioactive nuclei assessment for the fuel is needed for the decommissioning activities. We present an analysis of radioactive nuclei developed into the spent fuel and we tackle the main issues for an action plan regarding site decommissioning methodology.