Decommissioning

Decommissioning is the shutdown and removal of building structures, equipment, and/or industrial plant facilities from operational use. In some cases the materials used in plant operations can be contaminated and must be “contained” safely prior to being stored as waste.

For 10-years Whitchurch Engineering was the engineering lead for the decommissioning of PG&E’s Humboldt Bay Power Plant nuclear facility. The Unit 3 reactor caisson was buried 80 feet in the ground and later found to be over an earthquake fault line causing the facility to be closed. The unique characteristics of the decommissioning project required many first-of-kind engineering solutions that have been recognized by industry professionals from around the world.