Numerical analysis of A and A value ratios for off-site transportation of small-amount of fuel debris retrieved from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Sakamoto, Masahiro ; Okumura, Keisuke ; Kanno, Ikuo; Matsumura, Taichi ; Riyana, E. S.   ; Terashima, Kenichi  ; Kaneko, Junichi* ; Mizokami, Masato*; Mizokami, Shinya*

In the Unit 2 of TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F), trial retrievals of fuel debris with small-amount is underway. The retrieved fuel debris will be transported out of 1F site to Institutes in Ibaraki prefecture for analysis. The analyzed results will be utilized as feedback for the improvement of the processes (retrieval, transportation and storage) in the fuel debris management, and also for the development of technologies necessary in the future. The weight of fuel debris in the first trial retrieval was about 0.7 g. After several retrieval trials planned, the scale of retrieval will be expanded step by step in the future. In the retrieval, a rational transportation container should be considered beforehand, following the laws and regulations associated with the off-site transportation. The transportation container should be chosen based on radioactivity limit A or A value ratios: hazardous dose exposure will be prevented in case of container failure with the A value (considering the external exposure) and the A value (considering both the external and internal exposures). We estimated the radioactivity of the retrieved fuel debris using the results of the detailed nuclide inventory calculation. With a numerical analysis of the A and A value ratios, we confirmed the applicability of the Type A transport container for the retrieved small-amount fuel debris.