LiveDecom: Digital support for holistic management of the decommissioning of nuclear and other facilities

Nuclear decommissioning is a conservative domain that are cautious about using methods and technologies that lack a track record of successful application and detailed guidance on best practices. However, there is a growing interest in digitalization and a general belief that it may significantly reduce decommissioning risks and costs, and digital technologies are increasingly being applied for especially difficult tasks and specific subject areas. These technologies include 3D laser-scanning, 3D computer-aided design, building information modelling (BIM), digital twins, digital asset inventories, virtual reality, augmented reality, and collaborative tools for project and resource management. The goal of the LiveDecom project was to maximize the benefits of digitalization of decommissioning, building a prototype based on a holistic concept that makes relevant information and knowledge management technologies available to all subject areas and stakeholders. The prototype should constitute a platform of applications that together would demonstrate the benefits the domain could gain through digitalization. The platform should be developed by IFE, the research partner of the project with expertice in the field and a wide international network, the Norwegian companies Visavi and Catenda, with no prior knowledge from the domain, and several international partners with background from the nuclear domain. The project began with a gap analysis and feasibility studies where the project partners together produced technical system requirements and system archicture of the platform. The results of these studies where utilized in creating a system design of the platform. The system design showed how different types of data and applications should be integrated to achieve interoperability and towards a shared BIM database. Another important activity was the creation of a 3D-model that should be installed in the shared BIM database. This activity was accompanied by the development of a realistic use case that described work activities that addressed different elements of 3D-model. The use case provided the requirements for what functions the the first version of the prototype should include. The core of the prototype was the holistic planning tool, Visavi Live and the BIM collaboration application by Catenda BimSync. The prototype included the main functionality of these application as well as the integration between them. The prototyping went according to plan and it was foreseen to be demonstrated and evaluated at DigiDecom-2020, a yearly international conference on digitalization in decommissioning arranged by IFE. Unfortunately, the conference had to be postponed due to the Covid-situation. It was decided to end LiveDecom in 2020. This implied that the prototype never reached a level of maturity that allowed the partners to conclude in respect to the value of their applications to the domain. However, sufficiently encouraging insights and interests from the industry was obtained for IFE and several of the partners to continue working with the platform. This will happen through the related BIA project, RoboDecom, and in the Horizon 2020 project, PLEIADES.

The project designed a framework for a platform that integrates software tools used in holistic management of the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. The project succeeded in developing a first version of a prototype that demonstrates the interoperability between tools for holistic planning (Visavi Live) and collaboration (Catenda BimSync), connected to the same BIM in a realistic use case. In accomplishing this, the participants acquired new insights and competences on the user needs, radiological risks, as well as technological challenges. The project strengthened IFE's position as a leading international research institute within the field; during the project, IFE was appointed the first IAEA collaborating center that will be working on digital innovation in decommissioning. The project achieved great synergies with RoboDecom, a BIA project focusing on robotics in decommissioning, and, PLEIADES, a Horizon 2020 project that focuses on BIM and standardization in decommissioning.

Current information/knowledge management practices in decommissioning of nuclear sites, many times strongly relying on paper based solutions, combined with some level of, still very outdated, electronic methods, have been, or are being, replaced by more modern digital methods in other domains, including within building new nuclear installations. There are trends, and there have been early adopters, for application of more modern digital procedures for information and knowledge management. However, most of the time, when using such more advanced techniques, individual tasks within the overall decommissioning process are being addressed. For instance, application of scenario simulations for a specific task or training people in VR environments for the specific task. These methods, however, are inefficient for enabling integrated planning across the whole project and team. Due to the enabling hardware reaching adequate maturity levels, advanced digital technology based holistic support concepts are now viable solutions. For instance combination of digital simulation based job planning and evaluation technology combined with user centred digital methods for overall project planning can enable advanced support over the whole project and timeline. Similarly, integration of digital simulation based job planning and evaluation technology with Building Information Management technology, involving an adequately detailed and structured model of the installation or site, can enable utilisation of digital planning over the whole site or unit. The LiveDecom project will demonstrate a software suite, combining 3D CAD enabled engineering information management, 3D modelling and simulation based analyses, and advanced user interface technology aided planning and scheduling techniques for both simplifying D&D and waste management planning, and to lead to more efficient and better coordinated plans, in real-life use-cases.