Nuclear Decommissioning - Its History, Development, and Current Status

This book discusses the history of nuclear decommissioning as a science and industry. It explores the early, little-known period when the term 'decommissioning' was not used in the nuclear context and the end-of-life operations of a nuclear facility were a low priority. It then describes the subsequent period when decommissioning was recognized as a separate phase of the nuclear lifecycle, before bringing readers up to date with today's state of the art.
The author addresses decommissioning as a mature industry in an era in which large, commercial nuclear reactors and other fuel-cycle installations have been fully dismantled, and their sites returned to other uses. The book also looks at the birth, growth and maturity of decommissioning, focusing on how new issues emerged, how these were gradually addressed, and the lessons learned from them. Further, it examines the technologies and management advances in science and industry that followed these solutions.

 Nuclear Decommissioning is a point of reference for industry researchers and decommissioning practitioners looking to enrich their knowledge of decommissioning in recent decades as well as the modern industry. The book is also of interest to historians and students who wish to learn more about the history of nuclear decommissioning.


​Michele Laraia has been in the nuclear decommissioning field since 1980 when he was seconded to the damaged Three Mile Island reactor in support of US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Site Office. Then he worked at Italy's Regulatory Body, between 1982 and 1991 as Licensing Manager of Decommissioning projects. In 1991 he joined the International Atomic Energy Agency as Unit Leader in Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation. After his retirement from the IAEA in Nov. 2011 he is active as independent consultant. As IAEA Unit Leader and Scientific Secretary he published some 50 decommissioning reports and other documents, and authored more than 100 articles and conference papers. Under his supervision, more than 50 Technical Co-operation projects and courses were held in support of developing countries.