In-situ dismantling of the liquid waste storage tank in the decommissioning program of the JRTF

Mimura, Ryuji ; Muraguchi, Yoshinori; Nakashio, Nobuyuki; Nemoto, Koichi; Shiraishi, Kunio

The JAERI's Reprocessing Test Facility (JRTF) was the first engineering-scale reprocessing facility constructed in Japan. The JRTF was operated from 1968 to 1969 to reprocess spent fuels from the Japan Research Reactor No.3 (JRR-3). As a result of the operation (total 3 runs) by PUREX process, 200 g of highly purified plutonium (Pu) were extracted. In this operation, about 70 m of liquid waste was generated and part of this waste, which including Pu, with relatively high radioactivity, was stored in six large tanks. After shutdown of the facility, the JRTF decommissioning program was started in 1990 to develop decommissioning technologies and to obtain experiences and data on dismantling of fuel cycle facilities. Liquid waste in the tanks was treated from 1982 to 1998. Dismantling of tanks started in 2002. The tanks were installed in narrow concrete cells and inside of the cell was high dose area. Dismantling method for the tank is important factor to decide manpower and time for dismantlement. In this paper, in-situ dismantling of the liquid waste storage tank and its preparation work are discussed.