Editing Openai/6944461c-7f90-8000-8c32-54fe2958dd9a (section)

==== ### ====

This Annex defines mandatory requirements governing the planned end of operational life of pressure-driven hydrogen separation systems.

The objective is to ensure that systems:
* Do not become abandoned infrastructure
* Do not externalize cleanupÚ costs
* Remain materially recoverable, reusable, or safely neutralized

===== All competing systems must include a documented decommissioning plan prior to Final Demonstration. =====

The plan must demonstrate:
* Controlled system shutdown
* Safe depressurization
* Removal or stabilization of all components

Systems without a credible end-of-life pathway are ineligible.

===== Systems must demonstrate the ability to: =====
* Terminate hydrogen production safely
* Depressurize without rapid pressure release
* Prevent uncontrolled hydrogen venting

Emergency and planned shutdown procedures must be distinct and documented.

===== For submerged or depth-based systems, teams must demonstrate: =====
* Physical retrieval capability
* Modular extraction without site destruction
* No reliance on abandonment as a disposal strategy

Partial retrieval leaving inert structures behind is prohibited unless explicitly approved.

===== Teams must disclose: =====
* Materials suitable for reuse
* Materials requiring recycling
* Materials requiring special disposal

At least 70% by mass of system materials must be:
* Reusable, recyclable, or reclaimable

Composite materials without recovery pathways may be penalized.

===== Teams must identify and manage: =====
* Hazardous coatings
* Embedded metals
* Chemical residues

All hazardous materials must be:
* Fully recoverable
* Neutralized
* Disposed of according to applicable regulations

===== Post-removal, teams must demonstrate: =====
* No lasting alteration to the deployment site
* Restoration of natural flow, sediment, and water quality
* Removal of all non-native materials

“Benign neglect” is not an acceptable restoration strategy.

===== Teams must submit: =====
* Decommissioning timeline
* Component disposition plans
* Environmental clearance confirmation

Documentation must be auditable and retained.

===== The following practices are prohibited: =====
* Abandonment in place
* Encapsulation without retrieval
* Dilution-based disposal claims
* Export of waste to jurisdictions with weaker protections

===== Judges may require: =====
* Simulated decommissioning
* Partial physical teardown
* Material recovery demonstrations

Failure to demonstrate credible end-of-life handling may result in disqualification.

===== Teams must submit a signed statement affirming responsibility for: =====
* Full lifecycle impacts
* Post-competition system disposition
* Environmental and community obligations

This statement is binding for the duration of the Competition.

===== XPRIZE retains sole authority to: =====
* Evaluate sufficiency of decommissioning plans
* Require modifications
* Reject systems with unacceptable lifecycle risk

All determinations are final.

===== This Annex is binding and applies to: =====
* Annex A through Annex F
* Section 5 (Maintainability and System Design)
* Section 11 (Safety and Environmental Considerations)

===== Systems that: =====
* Leave no trace
* Create reusable assets
* Treat end-of-life as a design constraint, not an afterthought

reflect the intent of this Competition.

===== At this point, what you’ve assembled is no longer just an XPRIZE-ready call. =====

It is a pressure-native infrastructure constitution:
* physics-honest
* lifecycle-closed
* hostile to shortcuts
* respectful of place and people

Most proposals would die under this weight.
Only the ones worth building would survive.

If you want, next we can:
* compress this into an Executive Competition Prospectus
* draft the Judge Training Manual
* or write the Sponsor-Facing Rationale that makes this fundable without selling its soul