Aerosol characterization during heating and mechanical cutting of simulated uranium containing debris; The URASOL project in the framework of Fukushima Daiichi fuel debris removal

Porcheron, E.*; Journeau, C.*; Delacroix, J.*; Berlemont, R.*; Bouland, A.*; Lallot, Y.*; Tsubota, Yoichi; Ikeda, Atsushi; Mitsugi, Takeshi

Proceedings of International Conference on Environmental Remediation and Radioactive Waste Management (ICEM2023) (Internet), 5 Pages, 2023/10

https://doi.org/10.1115/ICEM2023-110133

Results of the URASOL project aimed at evaluating the generation and dispersion of radioactive aerosols during the cutting of fuel debris, a key issue in the decommissioning of the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F), are presented in this report. Characterization of aerosols generated during heating and mechanical cutting of simulated fuel debris in terms of mass concentration, real-time number density, mass-based particle size distribution, morphology, and chemical properties is reported. In the heating tests, an increase in particle size with increasing temperature was observed, and in terms of particle number density, the case using depleted uranium simulated fuel debris had a smaller number density than the test using Hf-containing simulated fuel debris. In mechanical cleavage, the aerodynamic median mass diameter of the aerosol was almost the same for the radioactive and non-radioactive samples (about 3.74.4 m).

Aerosol characterization during heating and mechanical cutting of simulated uranium containing debris; The URASOL project in the framework of Fukushima Daiichi fuel debris removal

Porcheron, E.*; Leblois, Y.*; Journeau, C.*; Delacroix, J.*; Molina, D.*; Suteau, C.*; Berlemont, R.*; Bouland, A.*; Lallot, Y.*; Roulet, D.*; et al.

Proceedings of International Topical Workshop on Fukushima Decommissioning Research (FDR2022) (Internet), 5 Pages, 2022/10

One of the important challenges for the decommissioning of the damaged reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F) is the fuel debris retrieval. The URASOL project, which is undertaken by a French consortium consisting of ONET Technologies, CEA, and IRSN for JAEA/CLADS, is dedicated to acquiring basic scientific data on the generation and characteristics of radioactive aerosols from the thermal or mechanical processing of fuel debris simulant. Heating process undertaken in the VITAE facility simulates some representative conditions of thermal cutting by LASER. For mechanical cutting, the core boring technique is implemented in the FUJISAN facility. Fuel debris simulants have been developed for inactive and active trials. The aerosols are characterized in terms of mass concentration, real time number concentration, mass size distribution, morphology, and chemical properties. The chemical characterization aims at identifying potential radioactive particles released and the associated size distribution, both of which are important information for assessing possible safety and radioprotection measures during the fuel debris retrieval operations at 1F.

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.

Containment atmosphere monitoring system for design and beyond design basis accident

Bentaib, A.*; Janin, T.*; Porcheron, E.*; Magne, S.*; Leroy, M.*; Dhote, J.*; Ruffien Ciszak, A.*; Sun, Haomin

Proceedings of OECD/NEA Specialist Workshop on Advanced Measurement Method and Instrumentation for enhancing Severe Accident Management in an NPP addressing Emergency, Stabilization and Long-term Recovery Phases (SAMMI 2020) (Internet), 6 Pages, 2020/12

Experimental study on aerosol collection by spray droplets; Application to fission products removal in containment

Sun, Haomin; Leblois, Y.*; Gelain, T.*; Porcheron, E.*

Proceedings of 2020 International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 2020) (Internet), 11 Pages, 2020/08

https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE2020-16857

Design of water-moderated heterogeneous cores in new STACY facility through JAEA/IRSN collaboration

Izawa, Kazuhiko; Tonoike, Kotaro; Leclaire, N.*; Duhamel, I.*

Proceedings of International Conference on Nuclear Criticality Safety (ICNC 2015) (DVD-ROM), p.965 - 976, 2015/09

In the post-Fukushima prospect, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, JAEA, intends to re-open its Static Experiment Critical Facility STACY, in order to contribute to the validation of fuel debris calculations in conditions close to those affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident. The reactor core of STACY is being modified by JAEA from homogeneous solution fuel core to heterogeneous pin-type fuel core. The first step of critical experiments is to establish reference experiments involving lattices of UO rods without fuel debris. A design of such experiments is in progress for the widest range of moderation ratios in the frame of JAEA/IRSN collaboration. For that purpose, perturbation calculation technique and stochastic geometry modeling technique were used with the MCNP5 and the JENDL-4.0 evaluated nuclear data library. The proposed paper will discuss all the aforementioned issues.

IAEA benchmark calculations on control rod withdrawal test performed during Phenix End-of-Life experiments; Benchmark results and comparisons

Pascal, V.*; Prulhire, G.*; Vanier, M.*; Fontaine, B.*; Devan, K.*; Chellapandi, P.*; Kriventsev, V.*; Monti, S.*; Mikityuk, K.*; Chenu, A.*; et al.

Proceedings of International Conference on the Physics of Reactors; The Role of Reactor Physics toward a Sustainable Future (PHYSOR 2014) (CD-ROM), 16 Pages, 2014/09

no abstracts in English

Benchmark calculations on control rod withdrawal tests performed during Phenix End-of-Life experiments

Pascal, V.*; Prulhire, G.*; Fontaine, B.*; Devan, K.*; Chellapandi, P.*; Kriventsev, V.*; Monti, S.*; Mikityuk, K.*; Semenov, M.*; Taiwo, T.*; et al.

Proceedings of 2013 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2013) (USB Flash Drive), 11 Pages, 2013/04

The control rod withdrawal test was one of the various Phenix End-of-Life tests performed in 2009. The main goal was to determine the impact of a rod insertion and/or extraction on the radial power distribution in the fissile core at nominal power. The framework of the Technical Working Group on Fast Reactors (TWG-FR) activities in IAEA, decided to launch a Coordinated Research Project (CRP), devoted to benchmarking analyses on the test. The CRP was performed by experts coming from CEA, ANL, IGCAR, IPPE, IRSN, JAEA, KIT and PSI. After a short description of the test conducted in the Phenix reactor, this paper presents some results obtained in the course of the CRP with special emphasis on control rod efficiencies and power deformation by subassemblies. The paper also discusses the discrepancies found when comparing calculated results with experimental data as well as some preliminary conclusions on the source of these discrepancies.

Fuel pin behavior up to cladding failure under pulse-type transient overpower in the CABRI-FAST and CABRI-RAFT experiments

Fukano, Yoshitaka; Onoda, Yuichi; Sato, Ikken

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 47(4), p.396 - 410, 2010/04

https://doi.org/10.3327/jnst.47.396

Fuel pin behavior under slow ramp-type transient-overpower conditions in the CABRI-FAST experiments

Fukano, Yoshitaka; Onoda, Yuichi; Sato, Ikken; Charpenel, J.*

Proceedings of 13th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-13) (CD-ROM), 13 Pages, 2009/10