Measurement of niobium reaction rate for material surveillance tests in fast reactors

Ito, Chikara; Maeda, Shigetaka; Inoue, Toshihiko; Tomita, Hideki*; Iguchi, Tetsuo*

Radiation Protection, 40(6), p.491 - 495, 2020/11

A highly accurate and precise technique for measurement of the Nb(n,n')Nb reaction rate was established for the material surveillance tests, etc. in fast reactors. The self-absorption effect on the measurement of the characteristic X-rays emitted by Nb was decreased by the solution and evaporation to dryness of niobium dosimeter. A highly precise count of the number of Nb atoms was obtained by measuring the niobium solution concentration using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. X-rays of Nb were measured accurately by means of comparing the X-ray intensity of irradiated niobium solution with that of the solution in which stable Nb was added. The difference between both intensities indicates the effect of Ta, which is generated from an impurity tantalum, and the intensity of X-rays from Nb was evaluated. Measurement error of the Nb(n,n')Nb reaction rate was reduced to be less than 4%, which was equivalent to the other reaction rate errors of dosimeters used for Joyo dosimetry. In addition, an advanced technique using Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry was proposed for the precise measurement of Nb yield, and Nb will be resonance-ionized selectively by discriminating the hyperfine splitting of the atomic energy levels between Nb and Nb at high resolution.

Prototype fast breeder reactor Monju; Its history and achievements

Tsuruga Comprehensive Research and Development Center

JAEA-Technology 2019-007, 159 Pages, 2019/07

JAEA-Technology-2019-007.pdf:19.09MB
JAEA-Technology-2019-007-high-resolution1.pdf:42.36MB
JAEA-Technology-2019-007-high-resolution2.pdf:33.56MB
JAEA-Technology-2019-007-high-resolution3.pdf:38.14MB
JAEA-Technology-2019-007-high-resolution4.pdf:48.82MB
JAEA-Technology-2019-007-high-resolution5.pdf:37.61MB

This report summarizes the history and achievements of the prototype fast breeder reactor Monju. The development of Monju started in 1968 as a prototype reactor following the experimental fast reactor Joyo. The development covers all the activity related to the fast reactor; plant design, mockup tests, construction, operation, and plant management. This report summarizes the history and achievements for 11 technical areas: history and principal achievements, design and construction, operation test, plant safety, core physics, fuel, plant system, sodium technology, materials and mechanical design, plant management, and trouble management.

Evaluation of decay heat used for effectiveness evaluations of countermeasures against severe accidents in the prototype FBR Monju

Usami, Shin; Kishimoto, Yasufumi*; Taninaka, Hiroshi; Maeda, Shigetaka

JAEA-Technology 2018-003, 97 Pages, 2018/07

JAEA-Technology-2018-003.pdf:12.54MB

The decay heat used for effectiveness evaluation of the prevention measures against severe accidents in the prototype fast breeder reactor Monju was evaluated by applying the updated nuclear data libraries based on JENDL-4.0, reflecting the realistic core operation pattern, and setting the rational extent of uncertainty. The decay heats of fission products, the actinide nuclides such as Cm-242, and radioactive structural materials were calculated by FPGS code. The decay heat of U-239 and Np-239 was evaluated based on ANSI/ANS-5.1-1994. The calculation uncertainty of each decay heat was evaluated based on summation of uncertainty factors, C/E values of reaction rates obtained in Monju system startup test, and so on. Furthermore, the decay heat evaluation method based on the FPGS90 was verified by the comparison of the results of the decay heat measurement of the two spent MOX fuel subassemblies in the experimental fast reactor Joyo MK-II core.

Inspection and repair techniques in reactor vessel of the experimental fast reactor JOYO; Development of devices for retrieving bent MARICO-2 subassembly and completion of retrieval work

Ashida, Takashi; Nakamura, Toshiyuki*; Ito, Hideaki

JAEA-Technology 2017-024, 198 Pages, 2017/11

JAEA-Technology-2017-024.pdf:55.8MB
JAEA-Technology-2017-024-appendix(CD-ROM)-1.zip:298.09MB
JAEA-Technology-2017-024-appendix(CD-ROM)-2.zip:210.77MB

In the experimental fast reactor Joyo, the disconnecting of an irradiation test subassembly MARICO-2 (Material Testing Irradiation Rig with Temperature Control) from its holding mechanism was conducted in May 2007. After the operation, the rotating plug was rotated despite the fact that the test subassembly was not disconnected completely. Consequently, top of wrapper tube of the MARICO-2 subassembly was bent onto the in-vessel storage rack. Since the overhanging part of the subassembly was in the height in which contacts with the upper core structure, it had damaged the bottom surface of the upper core structure. As the result, it was necessary to replace the damaged upper core structure and to retrieve the bent MARICO-2 subassembly for Joyo restart. Retrieval devices for MARICO-2 subassembly consist of a gripper mechanism to lift subassembly together with transfer pot, a guide tube built-in a pantograph mechanism to adjust lifting axis and safety mechanisms to prevent or mitigate falling of MARICO-2 subassembly, a retrieval cask and so on. Design of the retrieval devices have been verified in ex-vessel partial or full-scale mock-up tests and in-vessel function tests. In 2014, MARICO-2 subassembly was successfully retrieved from the reactor vessel by applying these retrieval devices. Then, retrieved subassembly was transported to a hot-cell facility for post-irradiation examinations. Devices have demonstrated expected performance under the actual environmental conditions of a sodium cooled fast reactor. This is a synthetic report about the retrieval work of the deformed and irradiated test subassembly in Joyo. This report includes the detail design and fabrication of the special retrieval device, results of tests for confirmation including the mock-up tests in manufacturer's factory, and results of MARICO-2 retrieval work from the reactor vessel.

Development of inspection and repair techniques in reactor vessel of experimental fast reactor "Joyo"; Retrieval of the bent test subassembly

Ashida, Takashi; Ito, Hideaki; Miyamoto, Kazuyuki*; Nakamura, Toshiyuki; Koga, Kazuhiro*; Ohara, Norikazu*; Ino, Hiroichi*

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai Wabun Rombunshi, 15(4), p.210 - 222, 2016/12

https://doi.org/10.3327/taesj.J15.032

In the experimental fast reactor Joyo, it was confirmed that the top of the irradiation test sub-assembly of material testing rig named "MARICO-2" had been broken and bent onto the in-vessel storage rack as an obstacle and had damaged the upper core structure (UCS). As the result, for Joyo restart, it was necessary to replace the damaged UCS and to retrieve the bent sub-assembly. This paper describes in-vessel repair techniques performed in the retrieval work of the obstacle inside of the reactor vessel. The devices which were prepared for this work demonstrated expected performance under the environmental conditions of an SFR such as high temperature and radiation dose, and the work was completed in 2014. The successful operation of this retrieval work of the damaged component inside of a reactor vessel will contribute to the development of in-service inspections and repair technics in an SFR.

Inspection and repair techniques in the reactor vessel of the experimental fast reactor Joyo; Replacement of upper core structure

Ito, Hiromichi*; Ota, Katsu; Kawahara, Hirotaka; Kobayashi, Tetsuhiko; Takamatsu, Misao; Nagai, Akinori

JAEA-Technology 2016-008, 87 Pages, 2016/05

JAEA-Technology-2016-008.pdf:18.11MB

In the experimental fast reactor Joyo, as a part of the restoration work of a partial dysfunction of fuel handling, the replacement of the upper core structure (UCS) was started from March 2014, and was completed in December 2014. In the jack-up test, the UCS was jacked-up to 1000 mm without significant sodium shearing resistance and interference. In the replacement of the UCS, a procedure was prepared with the use of wire-jack equipment assuming the interference. As a result, with the procedure and wire-jack were effectively functioned, the work was successfully completed.

Development of inspection and repair techniques for reactor vessel of experimental fast reactor "Joyo"; Replacement of upper core structure

Takamatsu, Misao; Kawahara, Hirotaka; Ito, Hiromichi; Ushiki, Hiroshi; Suzuki, Nobuhiro; Sasaki, Jun; Ota, Katsu; Okuda, Eiji; Kobayashi, Tetsuhiko; Nagai, Akinori; et al.

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai Wabun Rombunshi, 15(1), p.32 - 42, 2016/03

https://doi.org/10.3327/taesj.J15.003

In the experimental fast reactor Joyo, it was confirmed that the top of the irradiation test sub-assembly of "MARICO-2" (material testing rig with temperature control) had been broken and bent onto the in-vessel storage rack as an obstacle and had damaged the upper core structure (UCS). This paper describes the results of the in-vessel repair techniques for UCS replacement, which are developed in Joyo. UCS replacement was successfully completed in 2014. In-vessel repair techniques for sodium cooled fast reactors (SFRs) are important in confirming its safety and integrity. In order to secure the reliability of these techniques, it was necessary to demonstrate the performance under the actual reactor environment with high temperature, high radiation dose and remained sodium. The experience and knowledge gained in UCS replacement provides valuable insights into further improvements for In-vessel repair techniques in SFRs.

Development of dismantling technology for nuclear fuel facility; Discussion of dismantling method for Old Waste Treatment Facility for JOYO

Morita, Kenji; Morimoto, Makoto; Hisada, Masaki; Fukui, Yasutaka

JAEA-Technology 2015-038, 30 Pages, 2016/02

JAEA-Technology-2015-038.pdf:14.65MB

The Old Waste Treatment Facility for JOYO (Old JWTF) has been operated to treat radioactive liquid waste from the experimental fast reactor JOYO and post irradiation examination facilities. Operation of Old JWTF stopped in 1995, and dismantling & decontamination method has discussed. As a response to discussion results of remote and dismantling method in high dose environment on 2013, its concept examination was discussed on 2014. Results are follows. As a cutting tool for Old JWTF equipment, wire saw is selected from cutting ability (speed and thickness of objects). Discussed the component technology of wire saw remote operation system (handling, monitoring, collection method of secondary waste, else).

Analysis of natural circulation tests in the experimental fast reactor JOYO

Nabeshima, Kunihiko; Doda, Norihiro; Ohshima, Hiroyuki; Mori, Takero; Ohira, Hiroaki; Iwasaki, Takashi*

Proceedings of 16th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-16) (USB Flash Drive), p.1041 - 1049, 2015/08

Natural circulation is one of the most important mechanisms to remove decay heat in the sodium cooled fast reactors from the viewpoint of passive safety. On the other hand, it is difficult to evaluate plant dynamics accurately under low flow natural circulation condition. In this study, Super-COPD has been validated through the application to the analysis of natural circulation tests in the experimental fast reactor JOYO. Almost all plant components in JOYO including four air-coolers were modeled in Super COPD. Furthermore, the full scale modeling of fuel subassembly was also adopted in this analysis. The natural circulation test after reactor scram from 100 MW full power at JOYO was selected and simulated by Super-COPD. The transient behaviors predicted by Super-COPD showed good agreement with the experimental data.

Replacement of upper core structure in experimental fast reactor Joyo, 1; Existing damaged upper core structure jack-up test

Ito, Hiromichi; Suzuki, Nobuhiro; Kobayashi, Tetsuhiko; Kawahara, Hirotaka; Nagai, Akinori; Sakao, Ryuta*; Murata, Chotaro*; Tanaka, Junya*; Matsusaka, Yasunori*; Tatsuno, Takahiro*

Proceedings of 2015 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2015) (CD-ROM), p.1058 - 1067, 2015/05

In the experimental fast reactor Joyo (Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR)), it was confirmed that the top of the irradiation test sub-assembly had bent onto the in-vessel storage rack as an obstacle and had damaged the upper core structure (UCS). There is a risk of deformation of the UCS and guide sleeve (GS) caused by interference between them unless inclination is controlled precisely. To mitigate the risk, special jack-up equipment for applying three-point suspension was developed. The existing damaged UCS (ed-UCS) jack-up test using the jack-up equipment was conducted on May 7, 2014. As a result of this test, it was confirmed that the ed-UCS could be successfully jacked-up to 1000 mm without consequent overload. The experience and knowledge gained in the ed-UCS jack-up test provides valuable insights and prospects not only for UCS replacement but also for further improving and verifying repair techniques in SFRs.