Five chemical decontamination processes have been developed for nuclear reactor applications. One of these processes is the cerium decontamination process (CDP). This method uses a cerium acid reagent to rapidly decontaminate surfaces, obtaining decontamination factors in excess of 300 in 6 h on pressurized water reactor specimens. Sound volume reduction and waste management techniques have been demonstrated, and solidified waste volume fractions as low as 9% experimentally obtained. The CDP method represents the hybrid decontamination technique often sought for component replacement and decommissioning operations: high effectiveness, rapid kinetics, simple waste treatment, and a low solidified waste volume.