External evaluation on Monju core confirmation test in FY 2010; The Technical Committee on Monju Research Utilization

FBR Plant Engineering Center; Fast Breeder Reactor Research and Development Center, Tsuruga Head Office

The results of Core Confirmation Test conducted from May to July in 2010 was evaluated by external technical specialists at the two meetings of "Technical Committee on Monju Research Utilization", where the core physics tests, plant characteristics tests and component development tests were explained. The committee pointed out the following main points (1) After the 14 year stand-by, the series of tests have successfully completed within 3 months with provision of precious technical data for future FBRs, (2) Safety has been confirmed and valuable data for analysis code validation have been acquired on an FBR core containing 1.5%wt of Am-241. (3) The newly released nuclear data library, JENDL-4.0 has been significantly validated based on studies of capture cross section of Am-241 and of fission cross section of Pu-239. Finally, expectation has been remarked for advancement of Japanese FBR technologies with the JAEA's leadership based of achievements on Monju, to be reflected on subsequent FBRs.