Research on radioactive aerosol control and decontamination at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Decommissioning (Contract research); FY2023 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; The University of Tokyo*

JAEA-Review 2025-015, 73 Pages, 2025/09

JAEA-Review-2025-015.pdf:5.9MB

The Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science (CLADS), Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), had been conducting the Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project (hereafter referred to "the Project") in FY2023. The Project aims to contribute to solving problems in the nuclear energy field represented by the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. (TEPCO). For this purpose, intelligence was collected from all over the world, and basic research and human resource development were promoted by closely integrating/collaborating knowledge and experiences in various fields beyond the barrier of conventional organizations and research fields. The sponsor of the Project was moved from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to JAEA since the newly adopted proposals in FY2018. On this occasion, JAEA constructed a new research system where JAEA-academia collaboration is reinforced and medium-to-long term research/development and human resource development contributing to the decommissioning are stably and consecutively implemented. Among the adopted proposals in FY2021, this report summarizes the research results of the "Research on radioactive aerosol control and decontamination at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station decommissioning" conducted from FY2021 to FY2023. The present study aims to develop a safe laser decontamination system that integrates advanced particle detection and characterization systems with aerosol dispersion control, in collaboration with UK researchers. For aerosol dispersion control, new containment methods ranging from simple mechanical containment hoods to optical laser shields are jointly investigated. The Japanese team will develop a radioactive dispersion control method based on the use of water mist and water spray to reduce radiation risks during laser cutting and decontamination applications. Based on data on aerosol particles provided by the UK team, the potential to enhance aerosol scrubbing efficiency will be explored. Additionally, the effect of charge enhancement will be evaluated. The UK team will develop laser-based aerosol containment methods and conducting experiments to improve the condensation of aerosol particles and mist in spray scrubbing. The development of aerosol removal technologies and strategies will be carried out through comprehensive experimental and computational studies. Experiments will be conducted at UTARTS facility to verify simultaneous operations such as laser decontamination, cutting, and spray operations. Aerosol measurements will also be performed to obtain high spatial resolution data that can better validate CFD models. In the final year, mock-up tests will be conducted to verify the system's operation and decontamination performance at full scale, evaluating the decontamination system developed through this research.

Analysis of uranium, plutonium and fission product nuclides in process solution during flush-out for decommissioning of reprocessing plant

Yamamoto, Masahiko; Horigome, Kazushi; Goto, Yuichi; Taguchi, Shigeo; Kuno, Takehiko

Progress in Nuclear Science and Technology (Internet), 8, p.387 - 392, 2025/09

https://dx.doi.org/10.15669/pnst.8.387

Flush-out of Tokai Reprocessing Plant was completed in February, 2024 for the preparation of process decontamination. Since remaining nuclear materials were contained in main process, purpose of the activities was to recover nuclear materials by transferring them to the highly radioactive liquid waste storage tank and converting uranium solution into uranium trioxide, and to rinse all related processes with nitric acid and water. During this activity, analysis of U and Pu was conducted for nuclear material control and accountancy. Appropriate analytical methods such as isotope dilution mass spectrometry, gravimetric method, spectrophotometry and alpha-ray counting methods were selected depending on the status of flush-out. Also, gamma-ray emitted nuclides in rinsing solution were detected by highly purified germanium detector. This paper describes analysis and its results related to flush-out activities of decommissioning in reprocessing plant.

Numerical analysis of a potential Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) boundary failure mechanism in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit-2

Li, X.; Yamaji, Akifumi*; Sato, Ikken*; Yamashita, Takuya

Annals of Nuclear Energy, 214, p.111217_1 - 111217_13, 2025/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2025.111217

Assessment report of research and development activities in FY2023; Activity "Implementation and technological development of decommissioning of nuclear facilities" and "Implementation and technological development of radioactive waste processing" (In-advance evaluation)

Nuclear Backend Technology Development

JAEA-Evaluation 2024-002, 86 Pages, 2025/03

JAEA-Evaluation-2024-002.pdf:8.29MB

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (hereinafter referred to as "JAEA") consulted the "Evaluation Committee on Research and Development Activities for Decommissioning" (hereinafter referred to as "Committee") about the in-advance evaluation of research themes which had started after FY2021 of R&D plan for the 4th medium- and long-term objectives period concerning "Decommissioning of nuclear facilities and development of technologies for the treatment of related radioactive waste" project in accordance with the "Guideline for evaluation of government R&D activities". In response, the Committee evaluated to the evaluation points of view made by JAEA.

Feasibility study of reactor radiation photon spectroscopy in Fugen for nuclear decommissioning

Kaburagi, Masaaki; Miyamoto, Yuta; Mori, Norimasa; Iwai, Hiroki; Tezuka, Masashi; Kurosawa, Shunsuke*; Tagawa, Akihiro; Takasaki, Koji

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 62(3), p.308 - 316, 2025/03

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2024.2417786

Development of HCl-free solid-phase extraction combined with ICP-MS/MS for rapid assessment of difficult-to-measure radionuclides, 3; Measurement of Se concentration in concrete rubble

Banjarnahor, I. M.; Do, V. K.; Furuse, Takahiro; Ota, Yuki; Tanaka, Kosuke

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 10 Pages, 2025/00

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-025-10143-w

Image selection method from image sequence to improve computational efficiency of 3D reconstruction; Application of fixed threshold to remove redundant images

Hanari, Toshihide; Nakamura, Keita*; Imabuchi, Takashi; Kawabata, Kuniaki

Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics, 36(6), p.1537 - 1549, 2024/12

https://doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2024.p1537

This paper describes three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction processes introducing the image selection method for efficiently generating a 3D model from an image sequence. To obtain suitable images for efficient 3D reconstruction, we tried to apply the image selection method to remove the redundant images in the image sequence. By the proposed method, the suitable images were selected from the image sequence based on optical flow measures and a fixed threshold. As a result, the proposed method can reduce the computational cost for the 3D reconstruction processes based on the image sequence acquired by the camera. We confirmed that the computational cost of the 3D reconstruction processes can reduce while keeping the 3D reconstruction accuracy at a constant level.

Activation level of the concrete building and pressure vessel in JAEA-Tokai tandem accelerator

Yoshida, Go*; Matsumura, Hiroshi*; Nakamura, Hajime*; Miura, Taichi*; Toyoda, Akihiro*; Masumoto, Kazuyoshi*; Nakabayashi, Takayuki*; Matsuda, Makoto

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 61(10), p.1298 - 1307, 2024/10

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2024.2313558

Annual report for FY2022 on the activities of Department of Decommissioning and Waste Management (April 1, 2022 - March 31, 2023)

Department of Decommissioning and Waste Management

JAEA-Review 2024-004, 124 Pages, 2024/07

JAEA-Review-2024-004.pdf:3.39MB

This report describes the activities of Department of Decommissioning and Waste Management (DDWM) in Nuclear Science Research Institute (NSRI) in the period from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023. The report covers organization and missions of DDWM, outline and operation/maintenance of facilities which belong to DDWM, treatment and management of radioactive wastes, decommissioning activities, and related research and development activities which were conducted in DDWM. In FY2022 radioactive wastes generated from R&D activities in NSRI were treated safely. They were about 262 m of combustible solid wastes and 113 m of noncombustible solid wastes and 203 m of liquid wastes. After adequate treatment, 527 waste packages (in 200 L-drum equivalent) were generated. The total amounts of accumulated waste packages were 122,925 as of the end of FY2022 due to efforts of the restitution of waste packages to the Japan Radioisotope Association and volume reduction treatments of the stored waste packages. Decommissioning activities were carried out for the JAEA's Reprocessing Test Facility (JRTF). As for the R&D activities, studies on radiochemical analyses of wastes for disposal were continued. In order to pass the conformity review on the New Regulatory Requirements for waste management facilities, the Approval of the design and construction method was applied sequentially for the Nuclear Regulation Authority. The ministry of the Environment and Tokai-mura office requested JAEA to dispose of the contaminated soil generated by the accident of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The monitoring work at the playground was conducted during this period.

Generativity and Knowledge Management among Nuclear Power Plant Staff in Decommissioning Process

Kobayashi, Shigeto*; Taruta, Yasuyoshi; Zhao, Q.*; Hashimoto, Takashi*

Okan, 18(1), p.26 - 36, 2024/04

https://doi.org/10.11487/trafst.18.1_26