Clarification of debris formation conditions on the basis of the sampling data and experimental study using simulated fuel debris and reinforcement of the analytical results of severe accident scenario (Contract Research); FY2022 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; University of Fukui*

JAEA-Review 2024-014, 112 Pages, 2024/08

JAEA-Review-2024-014.pdf:8.22MB

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 FY2021, this report summarizes the research results of the "Clarification of debris formation conditions on the basis of the sampling data and experimental study using simulated fuel debris and reinforcement of the analytical results of severe accident scenario" conducted in FY2022. The present study aims to clarify the debris formation mechanism and utilize the results to refine the accident scenario. In the backward analysis of oxide debris formation, we succeeded in the formation of simulated fuel particle by the aerodynamic levitation method and ejection of melted oxides from tungsten pipe with a small hole. And we demonstrated the formation of simulated fuel debris of U1-No.15 obtained by the sampling in 1F.

Differential pressure rise event for filters of HTTR primary helium gas circulators, 2; Investigation of filter deposits and recurrence prevention measures

Nemoto, Takahiro; Fujiwara, Yusuke; Arakawa, Ryoki; Choyama, Yuya; Nagasumi, Satoru; Hasegawa, Toshinari; Yokoyama, Keisuke; Watanabe, Masashi; Onishi, Takashi; Kawamoto, Taiki; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2024-003, 17 Pages, 2024/06

JAEA-Technology-2024-003.pdf:1.91MB

In order to investigate the cause of the increase in differential pressure in the primary helium circulator filter that occurred during the RS-14 cycle, a clogged filter was investigated. As a result of the investigation, deposits caused by silicone oil were confirmed on the surface of the filter element. These results revealed that the cause of filter clogging was silicone oil mixed into the primary system due to performance deterioration of the charcoal filter in the gas circulator of primary helium purification system. As a measure to prevent the recurrence of this event, in addition to the conventional management based on operating hours for replacing of charcoal filter in the gas circulator of primary helium purification system, we have established a new replacement plan for every three years.

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."

Clarification of debris formation conditions on the basis of the sampling data and experimental study using simulated fuel debris and reinforcement of the analytical results of severe accident scenario (Contract Research); FY2021 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; University of Fukui*

JAEA-Review 2022-046, 108 Pages, 2023/01

JAEA-Review-2022-046.pdf:6.25MB

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 "Clarification of debris formation conditions on the basis of the sampling data and experimental study using simulated fuel debris and reinforcement of the analytical results of severe accident scenario" conducted in FY2021. The research on fuel debris so far is based on TMI-2 accident that is typical PWR accident but resent scenario analysis of sever accident progression and sampling data of the in reactor materials predict that fuel debris is diversity and piled up complicatedly depending on the unit and in reactor position. We are necessary to presume the thermodynamic condition of fuel debris during the accident in order to estimate accumulation state of debris.

Development of extremely small amount analysis technology for fuel debris analysis (Contract research); FY2021 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Tohoku University*

JAEA-Review 2022-034, 135 Pages, 2023/01

JAEA-Review-2022-034.pdf:8.5MB

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 (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 FY2021. 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. In particular, we will apply the extremely small amount analysis (ICP-MS/MS), which has recently been successful …

Development of extremely small amount analysis technology for fuel debris analysis (Contract research); FY2020 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Tohoku University*

JAEA-Review 2021-056, 98 Pages, 2022/02

JAEA-Review-2021-056.pdf:9.08MB

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 FY2019, this report summarizes the research results of the "Development of extremely small amount analysis technology for fuel debris analysis" conducted in FY2020. The fuel debris retrieved from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F) is analyzed in the second building of the Okuma Analysis and Research Center. The characteristics of fuel debris, such as the mixture of nuclear fuel, reactor components, and concrete, are not clear, and its analysis will be the first attempt in the world. 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.

Development of extremely small amount analysis technology for fuel debris analysis (Contract research); FY2019 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Tohoku University*

JAEA-Review 2020-064, 95 Pages, 2021/02

JAEA-Review-2020-064.pdf:9.48MB

JAEA/CLADS had been conducting the Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project in FY2019. 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 FY2019.

Criticality configuration design methodology applied to the design of fuel debris experiment in the new STACY

Gunji, Satoshi; Tonoike, Kotaro; Clavel, J.-B.*; Duhamel, I.*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 58(1), p.51 - 61, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2020.1798825

The new critical assembly STACY will be able to contribute to the validation of criticality calculations related to the fuel debris. The experimental core designs are in progress in the frame of JAEA/IRSN collaboration. This paper presents the method applied to optimize the design of the new STACY core to measure the criticality characteristics of pseudo fuel debris that simulated Molten Core Concrete Interaction (MCCI) of the fuel debris. To ensure that a core configuration is relevant for code validation, it is important to evaluate the reactivity worth of the main isotopes of interest and their k sensitivity to their cross sections. In the case of the fuel debris described in this study, especially for the concrete composition, silicon is the nucleus with the highest k sensitivity to the cross section. For this purpose, some parameters of the core configuration, as for example the lattice pitches or the core dimensions, were adjusted using optimization algorithm to find efficiently the optimal core configurations to obtain high sensitivity of silicon capture cross section. Based on these results, realistic series of experiments for fuel debris in the new STACY could be defined to obtain an interesting feedback for the MCCI. This methodology is useful to design other experimental conditions of the new STACY.

Chemical forms of uranium evaluated by thermodynamic calculation associated with distribution of core materials in the damaged reactor pressure vessel

Ikeuchi, Hirotomo; Yano, Kimihiko; Washiya, Tadahiro

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 57(6), p.704 - 718, 2020/06

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2020.1720844

To suggest efficient process of the fuel debris treatment after the retrieval from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (1F), thorough investigation is indispensable on potential source of U in the fuel debris. Estimation on the fuel debris accumulated in the reactor pressure vessel is specifically important due to its limited accessibility. The present study aims to estimate the chemical forms of U in the in-vessel fuel debris, especially in the minor phases such as metallic phases, by performing the thermodynamic calculation considering the material relocation and changing environment during the accident progression in the 1F Unit 2. Input conditions for the thermodynamic calculation such as composition, temperature, and oxygen amount were assumed mainly based on the results of severe accident analysis. The chemical form of U varied depending on the local amount of Fe and O. In regions of low steel content, the U-containing metallic phase was dominated by -(Zr,U)(O), while regions of high steel content were dominated by Fe(Zr,U) (Laves phase). A few percent of U was transferred to the metallic phases under reducing conditions, raising challenging issues on the chemical removal of nuclear material from fuel debris.

Identification of altered phases of fuel debris by laser fluorescence spectroscopy (Contract research) FY2018 Center of World Intelligence Project for Nuclear Science/Technology and Human Resource Development

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

JAEA-Review 2019-030, 66 Pages, 2020/03

JAEA-Review-2019-030.pdf:7.11MB

JAEA/CLADS, had been conducting the Center of World Intelligence Project for Nuclear Science/Technology and Human Resource Development (hereafter referred to "the Project") in FY2018. The Project aims to contribute to solving problems in nuclear energy field represented by the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. 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. Among the adopted proposals in FY2018, this report summarizes the research results of the "Identification of Altered Phases of Fuel Debris by Laser Fluorescence Spectroscopy". In the present study, we focus on uranium that is the main component element in debris, and identify the altered phase produced on the debris surface under various conditions by time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS) with high sensitivity to hexavalent uranium (U(VI)) that is stable in oxidation environment. In particular, further high-sensitive and high-resolution measurements are implemented by improving the fluorescence yields and suppressing the broadening of the peaks through the measurements at ultra-low temperature. In addition, with the supports by quantum chemical calculations, multivariate analysis, and machine learning, the method will lead to the identification of multicomponent and heterogeneous altered phase of fuel debris.