Aging of fuel-containing materials (fuel debris) in the Chornobyl (Chernobyl) Nuclear Power Plant and its implication for the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Kitagaki, Toru; Krasnov, V.*; Ikeda, Atsushi

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 576, p.154224_1 - 154224_14, 2023/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.154224

Research on radioactive aerosol control and decontamination at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station decommissioning (Contract research); FY2021 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

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

JAEA-Review 2022-061, 59 Pages, 2023/02

JAEA-Review-2022-061.pdf:2.38MB

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 FY2021. 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 in FY2021. The present study aims to develop a safe laser decontamination system that simultaneously incorporates an advanced particle detection and characterization system together with aerosol dispersion control in collaboration with the UK researchers. By using the UK partner's fundamental studies related to aerosol and water interface interactions, various methods such as electro-chemical processing of water-mist particles and spray droplets will be applied for effective control of ultra-fine aerosol particle dispersions in a large containment volume. With the help of advanced aerosol

Study on rational treatment/disposal of contaminated concrete waste considering leaching alteration (Contract research); FY2021 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Hokkaido University*

JAEA-Review 2022-038, 102 Pages, 2023/01

JAEA-Review-2022-038.pdf:4.76MB

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 FY2021. 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 FY2020, this report summarizes the research results of the "Study on rational treatment/disposal of contaminated concrete waste considering leaching alteration" conducted in FY2021. The present study aims to understand migration behaviors of radionuclides in relation to the properties of concrete altered by leaching, to develop a model to predict concentration profiles, and to analyze waste management scenarios, with a focus on underground concrete structures in contact with contaminated water. Migration behaviors depend on radionuclides and their chemical species. Sorption of I is less significant on C-S-H and C-A-S-H than on hardened cement paste with two orders of magnitude smaller distribution coefficient , while of U was the same and high around

Comprehensive analysis and evaluation of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 3

Yamashita, Takuya; Honda, Takeshi*; Mizokami, Masato*; Nozaki, Kenichiro*; Suzuki, Hiroyuki*; Pellegrini, M.*; Sakai, Takeshi*; Sato, Ikken; Mizokami, Shinya*

Nuclear Technology, 26 Pages, 2023/00

https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2022.2157663

Analysis of microparticles generated by laser processing and development of a methodology for their nuclear identification (Contract research); FY2020 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

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

JAEA-Review 2022-015, 119 Pages, 2022/09

JAEA-Review-2022-015.pdf:6.62MB

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 FY2020. 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 FY2018, this report summarizes the research results of the "Analysis of microparticles generated by laser processing and development of a methodology for their nuclear identification" conducted from FY2018 to FY2021 (this contract was extended to FY2021). Since the final year of this proposal was FY2021, the results for four fiscal years were summarized. Although laser processing has various advantages, one well-known disadvantage is that it generates a large amount of microparticles during the processing. Therefore, the application of laser processing to decommissioning waste contaminated with radioactive materials has been hesitant because the mechanism generating the microparticles has not been fully understood. In this study, the mechanism of microparticle production by

Identification and quantification of a Co radiation source under an intense Cs radiation field using an application-specific CeBr spectrometer suited for use in intense radiation fields

Kaburagi, Masaaki; Shimazoe, Kenji*; Kato, Masahiro*; Kurosawa, Tadahiro*; Takahashi, Hiroyuki*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 59(8), p.983 - 992, 2022/08

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2022.2026833

Development of an continuous air monitor for the measurement of highly radioactive alpha-emitting particulates (-aerosols) under high humidity environment

Tsubota, Yoichi; Honda, Fumiya; Tokonami, Shinji*; Tamakuma, Yuki*; Nakagawa, Takahiro; Ikeda, Atsushi

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 1030, p.166475_1 - 166475_7, 2022/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2022.166475

In the long-lasting decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F), the dismantling of nuclear fuel debris (NFD) remaining in the damaged reactors is an unavoidable but significant issue with many technical difficulties. The dismantling is presumed to involve mechanical cutting, generating significant concentrations of particulates containing -radionuclides (-aerosols) that pose significant health risk upon inhalation. In order to minimize the radiation exposure of workers with -aerosols during the dismantling/decommissioning process at 1F, it is essential to monitor the concentration of -aerosols at the point of initial generation, i.e. inside the primary containment vessels (PCV) of the damaged reactors. Toward this end, an monitoring system for -aerosols ( alpha air monitor: IAAM) was developed and its technical performance was investigated under the conditions expected for the actual environments at 1F. IAAM was confirmed to fulfill four technical requirements: (1) steady operation under high humidity, (2) operation without using filters, (3) capability of measuring a high counting rate of -radiation, and (4) selective measurement of -radiation even under high radiation background with /-rays. IAAM is capable of selectively measuring -aerosols with a concentration of 3.3 10 Bq/cm or higher without saturation under a high humid environment (100%-relative humidity) and under high background with /-radiation (up to 100 mSv/h of -radiation). These results demonstrate promising potential of IAAM to be utilized as a reliable monitoring system for -aerosols during the dismantling of NFD, as well as the whole long-lasting decommissioning of 1F.

Study on rational treatment/disposal of contaminated concrete waste considering leaching alteration (Contract research); FY2020 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Hokkaido University*

JAEA-Review 2021-070, 98 Pages, 2022/03

JAEA-Review-2021-070.pdf:4.75MB

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 FY2020. 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 FY2020, this report summarizes the research results of the "Study on rational treatment/disposal of contaminated concrete waste considering leaching alteration" conducted in FY2020. The present study aims to understand migration behaviors of radionuclides in relation to the properties of concrete materials altered due to leaching, to develop a model to simulate the migration behaviors based on the experimental findings, and to analyze waste management scenarios for radioactive concrete. The focus of the study is the underground concrete structures of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, which is in contact with contaminated water.

Radiocaesium accumulation capacity of epiphytic lichens and adjacent barks collected at the perimeter boundary site of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station

Dohi, Terumi; Omura, Yoshihito*; Yoshimura, Kazuya; Sasaki, Takayuki*; Fujiwara, Kenso; Kanaizuka, Seiichi*; Nakama, Shigeo; Iijima, Kazuki

PLOS ONE (Internet), 16(5), p.e0251828_1 - e0251828_16, 2021/05

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251828

Decommissioning of JMTR and study for construction of a new material testing reactor

Kaminaga, Masanori; Kusunoki, Tsuyoshi; Tsuchiya, Kunihiko; Hori, Naohiko; Naka, Michihiro

IAEA-TECDOC-1943, p.45 - 56, 2021/02

https://www.iaea.org/publications/14806/sustainability-and-self-reliance-of-national-nuclear-institutions

The JMTR operation was once stopped in order to have a check & review in August 2006, and the refurbishment and restart of JMTR was finally determined by the national discussion. The refurbishment was started from FY2007, and was finished in March 2011. However, at the end of the FY2010, the Great-Eastern-Japan-Earthquake occurred, and functional tests before the JMTR restart were delayed. On the other hand, based on the safety assessments considering the 2011 earthquake new regulatory requirements have established on Decmber18, 2013 by the NRA. The new regulatory requirements include the satisfaction of integrities for the updated earthquake forces, Tsunami, the consideration of natural phenomena, and the management of consideration in the Beyond Design Basis Accidents (BDBA) to protect fuel damage and to mitigate impact of the accidents. Analyses related to the new regulatory requirements have intensively been performed timely, and an application to the NRA had been submitted in March 27, 2015. After submission of application, seismic resistance assessment of JMTR reactor building was carried out by assuming the standard earthquake ground motion of 810 ga. As the results, it was found that seismic reinforcement work for reactor building and reactor pool wall were required. As a result, it became clear that at least 7 years of reinforcement work period and cost of about 40 billion yen are required for seismic reinforcement and to meet new regulatory standards. At the same time, it was made clear that high availability such as 8 operation cycles per year as originally planned cannot be expected due to aiging problem. For this reason, JAEA positioned JMTR as a decommissioning facility in the mid- and long-term plan of JAEA announced in April 2017. On the other hand, JAEA started to study the construction of a new material testing reactor. The examination results will be compiled by the end of FY2019. In this paper, outline of JMTR decommissioning plan is described.