Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
7/10/2015
The Zion decommissioning completed the successful completion of the first large commercial reactor vessel segmentation in the United States, EnergySolutions announced this week. According to the company, the segmentation of the Unit 2 Reactor Vessel finished in late June, a month after the first of 17 segments of the Reactor Vessel cut with an oxy-propone torch connected to a robotic fixture external to the vessel began. “A first-of-its-kind application for the U.S. nuclear industry requiring specialized rigging and lifting equipment were utilized safely without incident,” said John Sauger, Executive Vice President for ZionSolutions, in a statement. “Extensive design, analysis, mockup testing and planning resulted in a fast cutting sequence with no release of radiation to the environment.” EnergySolutions assumed responsibility for the Zion decommissioning project in 2010 from plant operator Exelon. The project is expected to be completed in 2018, two years earlier than previously estimated.