Current status of JMTR

神永 雅紀; 荒木 政則

no journal, , 

The JMTR is a light water cooled tank type reactor with 50MW thermal power. From its first criticality in March 1968, the JMTR has been utilized for fuel and material irradiation examinations of LWRs, HTGR and nuclear fusion research as well as for RI productions. The JMTR operation was once stopped in order to have a check and review in August 2006, and the refurbishment and restart of JMTR was finally determined by the national discussion. The refurbishment was started from JFY 2007, and was finished in March 2011. However, at the end of the JFY 2010, the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake occurred, and functional tests before the JMTR restart were delayed. On the other hand, based on the safety assessments considering the 2011 earthquake new regulatory requirements for research and test reactors have established on Dec.18, 2013 by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA). The new regulatory requirements include the satisfaction of integrities for the updated earthquake forces, Tsunami, the consideration of natural phenomena, the provision of manuals for full evacuation, and the management of consideration in the Beyond Design Basis Accidents to protect fuel damage and to mitigate impact of the accidents. Analyses related to the new regulatory requirements have intensively been performed timely, and an application to the NRA will be submitted in this fiscal year.