The Role of Human Factors in Planning for Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning

As increasing numbers of nuclear power plants (NPPs) worldwide reach the end of their useful life, careful and systematic planning for decommissioning has become increasingly important. Reports on previous experience of decommissioning tend to focus on the technical issues rather than the human factors that are fundamental to, and can significantly affect, the success of the decommissioning process. This paper describes those human factors that have a more significant impact on decommissioning, illustrates how they can affect decommissioning, and makes practical recommendations for management of these factors.