Annual report on operation and management of Hot Laboratories and Facilities; From April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011

Department of Hot Laboratories and Facilities

This report describes the operation and management of eleven facilities under the Department of Hot Laboratories and Facilities during a fiscal year of 2010. In Reactor Fuel Examination Facility, various post-irradiation examinations were performed regarding the advanced light water reactor fuel performance and safety research program, and the development of vessel material for spallation target of neutron scattering facility. In order to update and install new equipment, the license revision for the use of nuclear fuel materials was applied and its facility inspection by the ministry was accepted. In Waste Safety Testing Facility, various examinations were performed regarding the irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking behavior for nuclear power plant materials, corrosion properties for stainless steel against the dense uranyl solution, and properties of minor actinide bearing fuels. In order to perform the autoclave test for fuel claddings, the license revision for the use of nuclear fuel materials was applied and accepted. Since 2010, chemical analyses have been made by request at No.4 Research Laboratory, including maintenance of shared instruments and the technical assistance. In Research Hot Laboratory, the decontamination of hot cells and the dismantling of auxiliary equipment were performed at the lead cells on the decommissioning schedule of a fiscal year 2010. In addition, the facility management was carried out of No.1 Plutonium Laboratory, No.2 Research Laboratory, Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, Uranium Enrichment Laboratory, Simulation Test for Environmental Radionuclide Migration, Clean Laboratory for Environmental Analysis and Research, and Fuel Storage.