THE INTERVIEW | THE VAN NOORDENNENS
Perspectives on decommissioning
Gerry Van Noordennen former Chair of the Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences Division of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) and his son, Miles Van
Noordennen, Senior Technical Specialist at Haley & Aldrich, talk to NEi about nuclear decommissioning strategies in past decades and in the years to come.
By Paris Thasitis, University of Strasbourg – Energy Law
GERRY VAN NOORDENNEN AND Miles Van Noordennen are internationally recognised experts in nuclear facility decommissioning and related regulatory matters. Gerry Van Noordennen served as Chair of the Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences Division (DESD) of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) for the term 2020–2021. His son, Miles Van Noordennen, is a chemist/environmental scientist and currently serves as Senior Technical Specialist at Haley & Aldrich. He also served as Chair of the same ANS Division during 2021–2024. His hands-on experience includes major decommissioning projects such as the Haddam Neck Nuclear Power Plant, and he remains actively involved in technical sessions and regulatory discussions within ANS. They outline their perspective on decommissioning challenges and opportunities in the US and beyond.
Below: Examples of successfully decommissioned nuclear plants in the United States include the Yankee plants – Connecticut Yankee, Maine Yankee, and Yankee Rowe. Source: Maine Yankee
NEi: What’s the process if a power utility decides to shut down a nuclear power plant? Gerry Van Noordennen: Usually, the main reason for shutting down isn’t safety, it’s economics. When a utility determines that it’s no longer financially viable to run a plant, they publicly announce the closure and formally notify both the federal government and the state. On the announced shutdown date, they take the reactor offline and move all the fuel into the spent fuel pool.
After that, they send an official letter to the NRC, stating that the plant is now permanently shut down. From there, they either go into a “safe store” phase, move directly toward decommissioning, or sometimes a combination of both. Once the NRC receives that letter, the plant loses its
operating status but still maintains control over the site and assets. Then comes a series of licensing changes. The utility needs to revise its license and technical specifications and request exemptions from regulations that apply only to operating plants. Unfortunately, this process can take a couple of years. However, the NRC is currently working on updated regulations to streamline the transition from operation to shutdown, which should be in place in the next year or two. Once that’s all done, the only safety-related component left is the spent fuel. Everything else in the plant essentially becomes radioactive waste. Each system and component is evaluated and either abandoned, removed, or prepared for decommissioning. The utility then chooses how to handle
decommissioning: ● In-house: They do it themselves, mainly to retain existing staff and manage the process directly.
● Contracted: They hire a specialised company, like EnergySolutions, to do it.
● License transfer: They transfer the NRC license to a decommissioning company, fully stepping away from the process.
Sometimes, the utility may want to keep the property for
redevelopment, so they’ll lease it out for decommissioning and take it back when the process is complete. Other times, they walk away entirely. Decommissioning typically starts with the non-radioactive
buildings like offices and warehouses, which are easier to remove. Once demolition begins, and as the process continues, the utility eventually submits a License Termination Plan to the NRC. This detailed plan outlines how the site will be cleaned up radiologically. In the US, the cleanup goal is 25 millirem/year (all exposure pathways), which qualifies the land for unrestricted future use. If that level can’t be met, the site becomes restricted (a “brownfield”) with use limitations. Similarly, on the chemical side, if there’s contamination
from substances like lead, asbestos, or other industrial pollutants, a cleanup plan must be submitted to the state environmental agency. The site must meet those remediation standards too, for both radiological and chemical hazards, before it can be repurposed.
24 | February 2026 |
www.neimagazine.com
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