Garigliano power plant in Italy: Onet Technologies reaches a new milestone and launches the decontamination station

Onet Technologies reaches a milestone on the project to dismantle the systems and components of the turbine section of the Garigliano nuclear power plant in Italy.

The Garigliano nuclear power plant in Italy produced electricity from 1964 until 1982, when it was decommissioned due to the Italian government's policy of phasing out civil nuclear power.

What is the aim of the project?

The project, which has been awarded to SOGIN (a major Italian public contractor for nuclear dismantling and waste management), involves the design and execution of dismantling work on the systems and components of the turbine section of the power plant, as well as the supply of equipment for processing the dismantled materials.

The project began in 2015 and will be completed around 2022. It is being carried out in GME with Italian companies and one French company, Onet Technologies.

Onet Technologies' missions

• Preliminary work to remove asbestos from the cables running through the walls of the turbine building.
• The supply of two stations for radiological decontamination by sandblasting and asbestos removal of dismantled parts.

The decontamination station designed by Onet Technologies is an important part of the project: it measures 15 by 5 metres, is completely sealed, automated and includes technical ventilation systems to prevent the spread of contamination during sandblasting activities. A second station will be built by Onet Technologies, dedicated to asbestos removal and remediation.

Both stations were manufactured, tested and qualified at the factory before being installed on site, in compliance with applicable national and international standards.

In February 2021, Onet Technologies passed a major milestone: the on-site acceptance tests for the decontamination station (sandblaster), an important step in validating the proper operation of the installation with the consortium and customer SOGIN.

Despite the disruptions caused by the health situation in 2020, the investment of the staff on site was the key to the success of the station's installation.

The next major step will be to test the operation of the asbestos removal station (summer 2021) before dismantling of the turbine and waste treatment operations can begin.