Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended (MCNPX) simulation for passive neutron measurement of fuel debris at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants

Nagatani, Taketeru ; Nakajima, Shinji; Kosuge, Yoshihiro*; Shiromo, Hideo ; Asano, Takashi 

Meltdown of the reactor cores of Units 1-3 occurred at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants (1F). Fuel debris at 1F contains minor actinides and fission products and neutron absorber. These materials make it difficult to quantify fertile nuclear materials in fuel debris by the conventional passive neutron technique. We consider that DDSI and PNAR which focused on fissile material are promising techniques to quantify the nuclear materials in the fuel debris. A concept of application of these techniques to fuel debris measurement was investigated and presented at the last INMM annual meeting. In order to evaluate the applicability of these techniques to fuel debris measurement, we investigated the neutron behavior in the fuel debris by using MCNPX simulation code. Because property of fuel debris is not clear, source term data used were prepared by referring TMI data. This paper provides results of MCNPX simulation for fuel debris measurement at 1F with passive neutron techniques.