The Study on application of laser technology for the reactor core dismantling

Iwai, Hiroki ; Nakamura, Yasuyuki ; Mizui, Hiroyuki ; Sano, Kazuya ; Morishita, Yoshitsugu 

The reactor of FUGEN is characterized by its tube-cluster construction that contains 224 channels arranging both the pressure and the calandria tubes coaxially in each channel. And the periphery part of the core has the laminated structure of up to 150 mm thickness of carbon steel for radiation shielding. Method for dismantling the reactor core is also being studied with considering processes of dismantlement by remote-handling devices under the water for the radiation shielding. In order to shorten the term of the reactor dismantlement work and reduce the secondary waste, some cutting tests and literature research for various cutting methods had been carried out. As the result, the laser cutting method, which has feature of the narrow cutting kerf and the fast cutting velocity, was mainly selected for dismantling the reactor. In this presentation, current activities of FUGEN decommissioning and R&D of laser cutting tests are introduced.