Current status toward the reoperation of JMTR

Kaminaga, Masanori  ; Kusunoki, Tsuyoshi ; Araki, Masanori

The Japan Materials Testing Reactor (JMTR) is a light water cooled and moderated tank type research reactor with 50MW thermal power. From its first criticality in March 1968, the JMTR has been utilized for the fuel/material irradiation examinations of the LWRs, the HTGR and nuclear fusion research as well as for the RI productions. The JMTR operation was once stopped in order to have a check & review in August 2006, and the refurbishment and restart of the JMTR was finally determined after the national discussion. The refurbishment was started from JFY 2007, and was finished in March 2011. However, at the end of the JFY 2010, the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred, and the functional tests before the JMTR restart were delayed. On the other hand, based on the safety assessments considering the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, new regulatory requirements for research and test reactors have been established on Dec.18, 2013 by the NRA (Nuclear Regulation Authority). The new regulatory requirements include the satisfaction of integrities for the updated earthquake forces, Tsunami, the consideration of natural phenomena, the provision of manuals for full evacuation, and the management of consideration in the Beyond Design Basis Accidents to protect fuel damage and to mitigate impact of the accidents. Above analyses have intensively been performed, and an application to the NRA was submitted on March 27, 2015. In this presentation, the recent activities for the new regulatory requirements and a training course for foreign young researchers and engineers are introduced.