Nuclear Decommissioning

​Michele Laraia has been in the nuclear decommissioning field since 1980 when he was seconded to the damaged Three Mile Island reactor in support of US Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Site Office. Then he worked at Italy's Regulatory Body, between 1982 and 1991 as Licensing Manager of Decommissioning projects. In 1991 he joined the International Atomic Energy Agency as Unit Leader in Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation. After his retirement from the IAEA in Nov. 2011 he is active as independent consultant. As IAEA Unit Leader and Scientific Secretary he published some 50 decommissioning reports and other documents, and authored more than 100 articles and conference papers. Under his supervision, more than 50 Technical Co-operation projects and courses were held in support of developing countries.

• Introduction: how a new industry comes about.- Nuclear decommissioning as a “combination” of different industries with one and same objective.- The full sense of decommissioning as an industry.- Decommissioning before decommissioning.- The beginnings: 1960s.- The development: 1970s.- The maturity: 1980s.- Founders and early scientists.- Learning from history.- Conclusions.