Activity for improvement of reprocessing plant quality assurance system; Transition to decommissioning stage, complying with new regulatory requirements for new inspection program, giving up ISO 9001 certification; Operations report FY 2012-2019

Yoshinaka, Kazuyuki; Shimizu, Kazuyuki; Sugiyama, Takayuki

JAEA-Review 2021-008, 112 Pages, 2021/07

JAEA-Review-2021-008.pdf:5.99MB

We had drastically been improving quality assurance system for Tokai Reprocessing Plant (TRP), through applying new regulatory requirements, giving up ISO certification from FY2012 to 2019. In revising QA system, it is obviously necessary to satisfy the regulatory requirements, but it is important to continuously improve the QA system considering effectiveness to safety performance based on earlier experiences. In this report, the background of QA system revision, interpretation and thinking way of conformation and application to new regulation and "Application Guide to Quality Assurance Code for Safety in Nuclear Power Plants (JEAC 4111)" to TRP, issues considered. And matters that require attention for future QA activities are described. Key points are "in work processes planning, relationship with other sections and responsibility boundaries should be clearly defined with such as flow chart", "to manage decision-making processes is important, including input information, judgment criteria and so on", "concerning process monitoring and measurement, not only focusing on scheduling but also viewpoints toward conditions of facilities/systems, conformance to regulatory requirements and process improvement are necessary", and "in documentation, matching for existing system, clear relation to other fundamental documents are necessary".

Determination of alkali and alkaline earth elements in radioactive waste generated from reprocessing plant by liquid electrode plasma optical emission spectrometry

Yamamoto, Masahiko; Do, V. K.; Taguchi, Shigeo; Kuno, Takehiko; Takamura, Yuzuru*

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 327(1), p.433 - 444, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-020-07490-1

A simple, practical, and reliable analytical method for determination of Na, K, Ca, Sr, and Ba by liquid electrode plasma optical emission spectrometry is developed. Appropriate emission lines for quantification, interferences from co-existing elements, and effect of measurement conditions with cell damage have been investigated. The spike and recovery tests using actual sample have been performed for method validation, and negligible sample matrix effect has been observed. Consequently, the method is successfully applied to several radioactive wastes. The obtained data have been agreed well with data from computer calculation and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry within 10% difference.

Material balance evaluation of pyroprocessing for minor actinide transmutation nitride fuel

Tateno, Haruka; Sato, Takumi; Tsubata, Yasuhiro; Hayashi, Hirokazu

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 57(3), p.224 - 235, 2020/03

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2019.1666056

Fuel cycle technology for the transmutation of long-lived minor actinides (MAs) using an accelerator-driven system has been developed using the double-strata fuel cycle concept. A mononitride solid solution of MAs and Pu diluted with ZrN is a prime fuel candidate for the accelerator-driven transmutation of MAs. Pyro-reprocessing is suitable for recycling the residual MAs in irradiated nitride fuel with high radiation doses and decay heat. Spent nitride fuel is anodically dissolved, and the actinides are recovered simultaneously into a liquid cadmium cathode via molten salt electrorefining. The process should be designed to achieve the target recovery yield of MAs and the acceptable impurity level of rare earths in the recovered material. We evaluated the material balance during the pyro-reprocessing of spent nitride fuel to gain important insight on the design process. We examined the effects of changing processing conditions on material flow and quantity of waste.

Mechanism of phase transfer of uranyl ions; A Vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy study on solvent extraction in nuclear reprocessing

Kusaka, Ryoji; Watanabe, Masayuki

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 20(47), p.29588 - 29590, 2018/12

https://doi.org/10.1039/C8CP04558E

Mechanistic understanding of solvent extraction of uranyl ions (UO) by tributyl phosphate (TBP) will help improve the technology for the treatment and disposal of spent nuclear fuels. So far, it has been believed that uranyl ions in the aqueous phase are adsorbed to a TBP-enriched organic/aqueous interface, form complexes with TBP at the interface, and are extracted into the organic phase. Here we show that uranyl-TBP complex formation does not take place at the interface using vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy and propose an alternative extraction mechanism that uranyl nitrate, UO(NO), passes through the interface and forms the uranyl-TBP complex, UO(NO)(TBP), in the organic phase.

Development of cement based encapsulation for low radioactive liquid waste in Tokai Reprocessing Plant

Matsushima, Ryotatsu; Sato, Fuminori; Saito, Yasuo; Atarashi, Daiki*

Proceedings of 3rd International Symposium on Cement-based Materials for Nuclear Wastes (NUWCEM 2018) (USB Flash Drive), 4 Pages, 2018/10

At TRP, LWTF was constructed as a facility for processing low radioactive liquid waste and solid waste generated at TRP, and a cold test is been carrying out. In this facility, initially, nitrate waste liquid after separation of nuclides generated with treatment of low radioactive liquid waste was to be solidified by using borate. However, at present, it is necessary to decompose the nitrate in the liquid waste to reduce the environmental burden. For the reason, as a plan to replace the nitrate with the carbonate and to make it as a cement based encapsulation, we are studying for the introduction of the facility. Currently, as a cement solidification technology development for this liquid waste, we are studying the application of cement material based on blast furnace slag (BFS) as a main component. In this report, we show the results of the test conducted on the actual scale (200 L drum can scale).

Physical property evaluation of valve seal material at analytical radioactive liquid waste storage tanks in reprocessing facility

Goto, Yuichi; Yamamoto, Masahiko; Kuno, Takehiko; Inada, Satoshi

Nihon Hozen Gakkai Dai-15-Kai Gakujutsu Koenkai Yoshishu, p.489 - 492, 2018/07

Radioactive liquid waste from the Tokai Reprocessing Facility Analytical Laboratory is temporarily stored in intermediate waste storage tank by using receiving valves. Then, the liquid waste is transferred to liquid treatment facility by using liquid feed valves. The deterioration of the gasket part of these valves (leakage of waste liquid) was confirmed in 2004. Since then, the material of gaskets was changed from polyethylene to Teflon. In 2016, the gaskets were replaced by periodical update. Therefore, physical properties of used gaskets were investigated, and the relevance between radioactive level and degradation degree was evaluated.

Report on activities related to fostering nuclear security culture in Tokai Reprocessing Facility

Kitao, Takahiko; Takeuchi, Yoshikatsu; Kimura, Takashi; Kojima, Junji; Shioya, Satoshi; Tasaki, Takashi; Nakamura, Hironobu

Nihon Kaku Busshitsu Kanri Gakkai Dai-38-Kai Nenji Taikai Rombunshu (Internet), 9 Pages, 2018/04

In order to ensure and strengthen nuclear security measures, an active cultivation of nuclear security culture implemented by both entire organization and individual persons is vitally essential. Tokai reprocessing facility has conducted various activities such as case study education and training, yearly posters and patrolling the site by upper-level management that all employees hold a deep rooted belief that there is a credible insider and outsider threat, and that nuclear security is important. These activities are conducted in order to establish the foundation of beliefs and attitudes of effective nuclear security culture based on the IAEA guideline. This report introduces our activities fostering nuclear security culture in Tokai reprocessing facility that the evaluation and the continuous improvement of bidirectional activities by both top-down from multiple management levels and bottom-up from individual employee, and our challenges need to be worked on for the future.

Study on hydrogen generation from cement solidified products loading low-radioactive liquid wastes at Tokai Reprocessing Plant

Ito, Yoshiyuki; Matsushima, Ryotatsu; Sato, Fuminori

QST-M-8; QST Takasaki Annual Report 2016, P. 69, 2018/03

no abstracts in English

Current status of research for the accident of evaporation to dryness caused by boiling of reprocessed high level radioactive liquid waste

Tamaki, Hitoshi; Yoshida, Kazuo; Abe, Hitoshi; Sugiyama, Tomoyuki; Maruyama, Yu

Proceedings of Asian Symposium on Risk Assessment and Management 2017 (ASRAM 2017) (USB Flash Drive), 9 Pages, 2017/11

An accident of evaporation to dryness caused by boiling of high level radioactive liquid waste (HLLW) is postulated as one of severe accidents caused by the loss of cooling function at the fuel reprocessing plant. This accident can be divided into early boiling stage, late boiling stage and dry-out stage by characteristics of accident evolution. It is important to estimate the amount of fission product (FP) transport between the liquid and gas phases, and the amount of FP deposition on the walls in each stage in order to estimate the release amount of FP to the environment. Various research activities have been carried out for this issue. This paper reviews these activities and presents the recent activities at JAEA for development of simulation code for this type of accident.

Solvent extraction of uranium with ,-di(2-ethylhexyl)octanamide from nitric acid medium

Tsutsui, Nao; Ban, Yasutoshi; Sagawa, Hiroshi; Ishii, Sho; Matsumura, Tatsuro

Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange, 35(6), p.439 - 449, 2017/08

https://doi.org/10.1080/07366299.2017.1362842

Solvent extraction of uranium from a nitric acid medium was performed with ,-di(2-ethylhexyl)octanamide (DEHOA) by a single-stage batch method, and the distribution ratio equation of U(VI) was derived as = 1.1. Furthermore, the nitric acid distribution was also evaluated, and the distribution ratio equation = 0.12 was obtained. Batch experiments to evaluate the time dependence of U(VI) extraction and the U(VI) loading capacity of DEHOA were also performed. It was revealed that U(VI) extraction by DEHOA reached an equilibrium state within a few minutes, and the loading capacity was 0.71 mol/dm (M) when the concentrations of DEHOA and nitric acid were 1.5 and 3.0 M, respectively.