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  • N09-9 - A. Jones-NSS Conference Proceedings

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On the design of a remotely-deployed detection system for reactor assessment at Fukushima Daiichi

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Publication date2017
Host publicationNuclear Science Symposium, Medical Imaging Conference and Room-Temperature Semiconductor Detector Workshop (NSS/MIC/RTSD), 2016
PublisherIEEE
Number of pages4
ISBN (electronic)9781509016426
ISBN (print)9781509016433
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

The premise behind this research is the design of a system that will allow fuel debris characterisation at Fukushima Daiichi. The precise location of the debris is not known for example as to whether it remains within the reactor pressure vessel or it has leaked through into the base of the pedestal below, additionally the state of the fuel is also in question as to whether this has corroded from within its encasing or if it is intact. The most likely scenario is a combination of all four of these situations. The flooding of the reactor floors immediately following the Fukushima accident adds an extra element of complexity for the detection system requiring it to be submersible and to hold any detector system in water tight confinement. The research carried out has involved extensive modifications to a previously-designed low-cost small-scale AVEXIS submersible inspection vehicle and the incorporation of a variety of radiation detectors. The latter has been designed to allow for mapping and determination of the situation that is present within the primary containment vessels. The challenges addressed with the detection system arise from the high dose rates that have been recorded around the reactor pressure vessels which can be as high as 1000 Gy/hr. In such a harsh environment not only will the radiation detectors struggle to operate but the components that make up the remote-operated vehicle are also likely to suffer radiation damage after only a relatively short period of time. The research presented here evaluates the components currently incorporated into the AVEXIS system in terms of their radiation tolerability as well as presenting the combination of detectors to be used in the remote probe for the investigation of the fuel debris.

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©2017 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.