Study on residual radioactive inventory estimation in reactor decommissioning program (Contract research)

Sukegawa, Takenori; Hatakeyama, Mutsuo; Yanagihara, Satoshi

In general, neutron transport and activation calculation codes are used for residual radioactive inventory estimation; however, it is essential to verify calculations by measurement results because of geometrical complexity of the reactor and so on. The comparison between measured and calculated radioactivity in the JPDR core components showed a relatively good agreement (factor of 2), and it was cleared that water content and weight ratio of steel bars to concrete materials significantly influenced the neutron flux distribution in the biological shield (factor of 2-10 error). The measured radioactivity inside of the reactor pressure vessel wall and at the inner part of the biological shield was compared in detail with the calculations to verify the methodology applied to calculations of radioisotope production. Then it was found that the radioactive inventory could be estimated accurately with combination of calculations and measurement of radioactivity in samples and dose rate distribution for planning of dismantling activities.