Sogin completes first phase reactor dismantling

Remotely operated equipped was used to carry out the works. (PHOTO: Sogin)

The Garigliano, which was built over four years from 1959 to 1963, originally comprised Europe’s first boiling water reactor, a 95-metre-high chimney, a water tower, turbine hall and other associated structures. 

Sogin, which began the decommissioning process back in 1999, recently removed all of the contaminated metal components of the deflector of the upper part of the vessel - the steel container in which the nuclear reaction took place during operation.

The components were removed and cut while working under water using a pneumatic clamp and special mechanical equipment, which was operated remotely with the support of high-resolution underwater cameras.

Sogin said: “This is the most complex activity from an engineering and operational point of view for the decommissioning of a nuclear plant.

“The operations, carried out together with the subsidiary Nucleco, began at the end of 2023 with the flooding of the vessel and the reactor channel, a step required to guarantee maximum safety during the work as water is a natural element that shields the radiation.”

Following the removal of the metal components, the components were treated and placed into to two high integrity containers for temporary storage on site. They will be transported to the National Repository in due course. 

The next phase of works will comprise the removal of the reactor vessel’s inner components, after which the dismantling of the vessel itself will begin.​

A Brokk demolition robot was among the specialist equipment used to carry out the works. (PHOTO: Sogin)

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