Iowa State officials submitted a plan last week to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the decommissioning of its 10-kilowatt, 150-ton teaching nuclear reactor.

The reactor is scheduled to be decommissioned in six to 12 months.

Scott Wendt, manager of the reactor, said College of Engineering administrators decided to decommission the reactor due to a minimal amount of student usage.

He said the device mostly was used by aerospace and mechanical engineering professors as a teaching tool.

“Hundreds of students have taken laboratory classes which utilized the reactor, [but] the cost is just no longer justified,” he said.

Rodney Estwick, graduate student in electrical engineering, agreed that the reactor rarely was used.

“Since I’ve began working in February 1995, the reactor has been used only a handful of times in teaching,” he said.

Duke Engineering & Services of Bolton, Mass., has been working with ISU to develop a plan to remove the reactor from the Nuclear Engineering Lab.

During the next six months, experts at the NRC will review the plan, Wendt said.

“When the plan is approved [by ISU], the dismantling can begin,” Wendt said.

To ensure safety, the decommissioners will be trained by staff members from both ISU and Duke Engineering & Services.

Once approved, the actual deconstruction is expected to take six months but could take as long as two years, Wendt said.

“There will be four to six weeks of training and setup,” said Chad Hutchinson, senior reactor operator and senior in electrical engineering. “The actual demolition will take three to five weeks, then three to six weeks of post-demolition activities.

“Next, tests will be completed to make sure all hazardous materials have been removed.”

Hutchinson said the NRC will be overseeing the decommissioning to verify it is being handled properly. Afterward, the NRC will release ISU from the Reactor License.