Characterization of neutrons emitted by an expected small amount of fuel debris in a trial retrieval from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Matsumura, Taichi; Okumura, Keisuke; Sakamoto, Masahiro; Terashima, Kenichi; Riyana, E. S.; Kondo, Kazuhiro*

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 432, p.113791_1 - 113791_9, 2025/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2024.113791

Study on water stopping, repair and stabilization of lower PCV by geopolymer, etc. (Contract research); FY2022 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

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

JAEA-Review 2024-021, 126 Pages, 2024/11

JAEA-Review-2024-021.pdf:6.51MB

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 FY2022. 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 "Study on water stopping, repair and stabilization of lower PCV by geopolymer, etc" conducted in FY2022. The present study aims to propose a construction method to stop jet deflectors by improved geopolymer and ultra-heavy muddy water, and to repair the lower part of the dry well. In addition, in order to increase the options for on-site construction in unknown situations such as deposition conditions, we will examine a wide range of construction outside the pedestal, and evaluate the feasibility of the construction method by the latest thermal flow simulation method.

Droplet evaporation characteristics on high-temperature porous surfaces for cooling fuel debris

Yuki, Kohei*; Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Yuki, Kazuhisa*

Proceedings of 31st International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE31) (Internet), 4 Pages, 2024/11

https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE31-135281

Fuel debris in the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station is cooled under immersion condition. However, in the event of an unexpected decrease in water level, coolant contacts high-temperature fuel debris having porous structure. In this event, although fuel debris needs to be cooled rapidly, thermal behavior at liquid-solid contact, such as capillary phenomenon, remains unclear. In this paper, as basic research, we evaluate droplet evaporation characteristics after contact with metal porous media with small pores less than 1 mm. In experiment, to obtain life time curve of a droplet, bronze or stainless steel porous media having 1, 40, or 100 m pore diameter are utilized. Experimental results show that Leidenfrost phenomenon is suppressed on the porous surfaces because generated vapor can be discharged from the pores. Further, for bronze porous media, capillary phenomenon is observed as the temperature of the porous media increase because of generation of oxide film having fine structure. On the other hand, due to low wettability of stainless steel porous media, capillary phenomenon does not occur, and the droplet was not sucked and spread into pore. This indicates that rapid cooling by the capillary phenomenon can not be expected if fuel debris has the same characteristics as the stainless steel porous media.

Decommissioning robot manipulator for fuel debris retrieval

Nakashima, Shinsuke*; Moro, A.*; Komatsu, Ren*; Faragasso, A.*; Matsuhira, Nobuto*; Woo, H.*; Kawabata, Kuniaki; Yamashita, Atsushi*; Asama, Hajime*

Proceedings of International Topical Workshop on Fukushima-Daiichi Decommissioning Research 2024 (FDR2024) (Internet), 4 Pages, 2024/10

Research and development of the sample-return technique for fuel debris using the unmanned underwater vehicle (Contract research); FY2022 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; National Institute of Maritime, Port and Aviation Technology*

JAEA-Review 2024-020, 77 Pages, 2024/09

JAEA-Review-2024-020.pdf:3.34MB

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 FY2022. 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 "Research and development of the sample-return technique for fuel debris using the unmanned underwater vehicle" conducted from FY2020 to FY2022. The present study aims to develop a fuel debris sampling device that comprises a neutron detector with radiation resistance and enhanced neutron detection efficiency, an end-effector with powerful cutting and collection capabilities, and a manipulator under the Japan-UK joint research team. We will also develop a fuel debris sampling system that can be mounted on an unmanned vehicle.

Uncertainty reduction of the FPs transport mechanism and debris degradation behavior and evaluation of the reactor contamination of debris state on the basis of the accident progression scenario of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 2 and 3 (Contract research); FY2022 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Tokyo Institute of Technology*

JAEA-Review 2024-010, 112 Pages, 2024/08

JAEA-Review-2024-010.pdf:6.49MB

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 FY2022. 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 "Uncertainty reduction of the FPs transport mechanism and debris degradation behavior and evaluation of the reactor contamination of debris state on the basis of the accident progression scenario of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 2 and 3" conducted in FY2022. The present study aims to elucidate the cause of the high dosage under shield plug by clarification of to the cesium behavior of migration, adhesion to structure and deposition as well as evaluate the properties of metal-rich debris predeceasing melted through the materials science approach based on the most probable scenario of accident progression of Unit 2 and 3. In this fiscal year, the followings were achieved.

Challenge to advancement of debris composition and direct isotope measurement by microwave-enhanced LIBS (Contract research); FY2022 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; i-Lab*

JAEA-Review 2023-029, 77 Pages, 2024/05

JAEA-Review-2023-029.pdf:3.98MB

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 FY2022. 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 "Challenge to advancement of debris composition and direct isotope measurement by microwave-enhanced LIBS" conducted from FY2020 to FY2022. The present study aims to increase the emission intensity of LIBS (laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy) by superimposing MW (microwave) and apply it to uranium isotope measurement. In FY2022, we improved the cooling method and reduce unnecessary functions in of the semiconductor microwave oscillator, and apply the optimized conditions obtained from simulations to the LIBS experiment for the microwave antenna gave better results.

Development of extremely small amount analysis technology for fuel debris analysis (Contract research); FY2022 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Tohoku University*

JAEA-Review 2023-025, 117 Pages, 2024/03

JAEA-Review-2023-025.pdf:7.29MB

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 FY2022. The Project aims to contribute to solving problems in the nuclear energy field represented by the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F), 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 FY2019, this report summarizes the research results of the "Development of extremely small amount analysis technology for fuel debris analysis" conducted in FY2022. Understanding the properties of fuel debris is necessary for handling, criticality control, storage control, etc. A key technique is the chemical analysis of actinide nuclides. We develop sample pretreatment technology and separation / analysis process required for chemical analysis. The purpose of this study is to streamline future planned fuel debris analysis. To promote 1F decommissioning, we will train human resources through on-the-job training.

Progress status and future issues of development of analysis and estimation technology for fuel debris characterization, 3; Activities toward enhanced analysis accuracy of fuel debris

Ikeuchi, Hirotomo; Koyama, Shinichi

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai-Shi ATOMO, 66(2), p.74 - 78, 2024/02

https://doi.org/10.3327/jaesjb.66.2_74

For the steady removal of fuel debris from the TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F), it is an urgent issue to establish analysis technology and systems for fuel debris samples with unknown properties (unknown samples). For this purpose, through analysis tests using samples with known properties (simulated fuel debris) and discussions among experts, the validity of analysis results and the factors that cause errors has been identified. In addition to knowing the current level of analysis accuracy, studies are being conducted to understand and improve the influencing factors. This paper introduces a part of the development of infrastructure for analysis and evaluation technology of "nuclides and element content."

Effect of fuel particle size on consequences of criticality accidents in water-moderated solid fuel particle dispersion system

Fukuda, Kodai; Yamane, Yuichi

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 60(12), p.1514 - 1525, 2023/12

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2023.2224327

This study aims to clarify the effect of fuel particle radius on the criticality transient behavior and the total number of fissions in water-moderated solid fuel dispersion systems. Neutronics/thermal hydraulics-coupled kinetics analysis was performed in a hypothetical fuel debris system, where small fuel particles aggregate in water and become supercritical. Results showed that the number of fissions is 10 times larger when the fuel particle radius is reduced by one order of magnitude under conditions where heat transfer, i.e. from fuel to water, is emphasized. Moreover, there is a possibility that lower reactivity could give a larger number of fissions when the fuel particle size is very small. In addition, the number of fissions may be overestimated or underestimated to an unexpected extent unless appropriate fuel particle size is set on the analysis.