Status of decommissioning of the plutonium fuel fabrication facility and R&Ds of dismantling methods for glove boxes

Kuba, Meiji 

The Plutonium Fuel Fabrication Facility (PFFF) is now in its decommissioning phase. Now, terminated gloveboxes have been dismantled. Gloveboxes to be dismantled are surrounded by a plastic enclosure to prevent contamination from being spread into process room. In this plastic enclosure, dismantling operations for gloveboxes are performed manually by workers, each wearing an air-feed suit. This dismantling methodology is technically well-established and relatively easy to implement. However, the mental and physical loads placed on workers wearing the air-feed suits are intensively high. Therefore, R&Ds on new dismantling technologies including utilization of heavy machines covered with plastic enclosure for anti-contamination have been started to reduce the potential risks associated with workers and decommissioning costs. In this meeting, the status of decommissioning of the PFFF and the overview of developed dismantling methods for alpha-tight gloveboxes are described.