For the IAEA member states, including Romania, decommissioning of the nuclear facilities represents an issue of great interest, due to the large number of these facilities already built for a quite long period of time and which have to be decommissioned in the near future, according to the in force regulations. In this regard, IAEA recommends the optimization of decontamination and decommissioning activities.

According to the interpretation adopted by IAEA, decommissioning means performing the technical and administrative activities to allow the release of a nuclear facility from the licensing regime. For these facilities, decommissioning represents the final phase o their life cycle, following site selection, design, construction, commissioning and operation.

Operations like decontamination, dismantling of nuclear plant equipment and facilities, buildings and structures demolishing, and management of the resulted radioactive wastes, take into consideration the requirements related to health and safety of the nuclear plant operating staff and of the population, as well as any implication that these activities have in relation to the environment.

 These activities are performed for gradually and systematic reduction of the radiological hazard, based on a planning and an assessment for assuring the safety during the hole period of decommissioning activities.

This multidisciplinary project states the scientific and technical bases of general decontamination directions, as well as radwastes management, which will be prepared at the same time with the decommissioning plan, applicable to nuclear installations. Within the integrated decommissioning, and radwastes management plan, both decontamination and radwastes management are components, constituting the subject of advanced optimizing analysis. Selection of optimum techniques and proper strategies of radwastes decommissioning and management can bring about great benefits, being able to provide decommissioning under safety conditions of nuclear plants.

The proposed project has at its basis the necessity of knowing the contamination processes of materials, structures and equipment, viewing the process of decontamination, decommissioning and radwastes management produced by nuclear plants decommissioning, being applicable to CANDU - type plants. Costs-benefits analyses will be performed regarding decontamination possibilities, in order to reduce exposure to radiation of personnel implied in decommissioning, and recovery and reutilization of precious materials, as well.

This project is included in research directions in Energy, "Durable Systems and Technologies field, power safety" theme "Promotion of clean power technology", of environment protection measures, and reduction of gas releases in atmosphere".

This project follows up both the scientific and technical foundation of problems, regarding decommissioning of materials, structures and equipment for nuclear plants decommissioning, as well as the radwastes managements under safety conditions of the wastes obtained both further decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear plants.

IAEA recommends the necessity of optimization of both decontamination and decommissioning activity of nuclear plants and radioactive waste management.