Status of reduced enrichment program for research reactors in Japan

Oba, Toshinobu ; Inoue, Takeshi; Unesaki, Hironobu*

The current status of research and test reactors relevant to RERTR program is described. The reduced enrichment programs for the JRR-3, JRR-4 and JMTR of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) were completed by 1999. The core of JRR-3 was converted from aluminide (UAl-Al) to silicide (USi-Al) in order to reduce the amount of spent fuel. The JRR-3 has been well operated with LEU fuel since 1990 and reached 55,400 MWD in December 2007 at the last operation cycle. Operation with 10 cycles (26 days/cycle) is scheduled for one year from July 2008 to July 2009. The JRR-4 is under shut down condition to replace reflector elements with new ones. It will restart in July 2009. The JMTR is under refurbishment of irradiation facilities. Kyoto University Research Reactor (KUR) has terminated its operation with HEU on February 2006. Shipment of all HEU spent fuel elements to the United States has been successfully completed. The full core conversion of KUR to LEU fuel, including fuel fabrication, is currently under progress and the reactor restart using LEU core is expected to be achieved in May 2009.