Development of treatment technology for fuel debris based on the microbial degradation effect

Liu, J. ; Kitagaki, Toru  

In Fukushima Daiichi accident, water was injected into the power plant to cool the reactor. Until now, groundwater and rainwater are still flowing into the building. It is expected that some microorganisms enter the damaged plant with the water, and they may lead to the degradation of fuel debris. To develop the treatment technology for fuel debris in future, it is necessary to understand the microbial effect on the physicochemical properties of fuel debris. In this work, the microbial oxidative degradation of fuel debris was studied by cultivation of bacteria and simulated fuel debris. The decomposition mechanism was estimated based on the analysis results.