foreign nuclear disaster prompted many countries to ponder the issue of decommissioning old nuclear power stations some of which are now technologically Obsolete and starting to become dangerous but did their designers ever consider the possibility of decommissioning the issue of decommissioning is strangely enough a new one technical feasibility is already a major hurdle the problem is that even if the reactor is dismantled and it's gone away you're still stuck with the waste and there's no solution for that waste and there may never be a solution for that waste countries like France Germany or the United States now realize that decommissioning a nuclear power station is a long and delicate process people have been working on the issue for the last 20 years technical problems are mounting the risks to man and the environment are growing and to make things worse costs are spiraling out of control so much so that it is now legitimate to ask whether we are actually capable of decommissioning our nuclear power stations [Music] foreign of the world's largest users of nuclear power has opted for immediate dismantling of its reactors at the end of their life nine are currently being decommissioned on six sites for some the process has been going on for more than 20 years one of France's oldest nuclear power stations now being decommissioned is it brenilis in Brittany [Music] the decommissioning process involves dismantling and storing One By One The many pieces of a complex puzzle some of which will remain dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years decommissioning is done in three phases the first involves the collection of fuel which after being unloaded will be kept for two years in a cooling Pond the process of emptying circuits is also begun [Music] foreign first areas that have not been in contact with radioactivity followed by all the elements close to the reactor which need to be decontaminated prior to storing [Music] as delicate phase involves the destruction of the reactor itself the most radioactive element [Music]