891

Journal of NUCLEAR SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY, 25[11], pp. 891~894 (November 1988).

limited space. In the plasma arc cutting, a

SHORT NOTE large amount of heat is concentrated into
metal in such a way that a plasma gas and
Dismantling of JPDR Internals an electric arc are forced through a small
Using Underwater Plasma Arc nozzle. The most optimum cutting condition
was determined through the studies on the
Cutting Technique Operated
efficient cutting parameters such as a cutting
by Robotic Manipulator speed, a gas composition and the standoff
distance between a torch nozzle and a cutting
Satoshi YANAGIHARA, Shinsuke ASHIDAt
object. It was found from these studies that
and Hozumi USUI
the torch nozzle must be positioned at a dis-
Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute* tance of about 10 mm from the surface of
Received August 6, 1988
metal to be cut for initiation and sustain of
Revised October 4, 1988 a plasma arc(3). A precise control of the
plasma torch was, therefore, required for the
KEYWORDS: reactor decommissioning,
robotic manipulator system.
JPDR reactor, underwater plasma arc
cutting, robotic manipulator, manpower, (2) Robotic Manipulator System
occupational radiation exposure, waste A prototype amphibious robotic manipu-
management, radioactive wastes, work lator system called the JARM-25 (JAERI
efficiency, dismantling, reactor internals, Amphibious Robotic Manipulator with 25 kg load
remote cutting
capacity) has been developed as one of the
The Japan Power Demonstration Reactor remote handling techniques for dismantling
(JPDR) Decommissioning Program, functioning of reactor components. The JARM-25 is
since 1981, is making steady progress and has equipped with electrically driven bilateral
been producing useful data for future decom- master-slave manipulators. The slave arm
missioning of commercial power reactors(1)(2). has six joints capable of rotating or bending,
A superior cutting performance with remote and can move with six degrees of freedom,
control technology was required to minimize which is indispensable for a finger part to
occupational radiation exposure on dismantling approach to any position with various angles.
of highly activated and complex-shaped steel The finger part can easily be removed from
structures. For this purpose, an underwater sixth joint so that it replaces with various
plasma arc cutting technique and a robotic types of an end-effector. The slave arm, 120
manipulator system have been developed then kg in weight, can extend the arm 120 cm,
these were successfully used to dismantle and has a maximum finger end speed of 100
some JPDR internals at the first step toward mm/s. The slave arm has also watertight
dismantling the JPDR components. Various structures against the water pressure of less
useful data such as manpower and radiation than 0.2 MPa, which was determined in due
exposure to workers have been collected consideration of movement of the slave arm
through this dismantling activity. This note under various pressure conditions. To ensure
briefly describes the results of the dismantling the watertight structures further, the slave
works for some JPDR internals. arm was pressurized to be 0.02 MPa more
1. Dismantling Techniques than the environment pressure during the
(1) Underwater Plasma Arc underwater dismantling operation for the re-
Cutting Technique actor internals. Figure 1 shows the block
A plasma arc cutting technique was select- diagram of the JARM-25 system used to
ed to dismantle some JPDR internals because dismantle the JPDR internals.
it can provide both the required superior * Tokai -mura, Ibaraki-ken 319-11.
cutting performance underwater and the con- Present address : Tokyo t Elec. Power Co., Inc.,
trol features needed for remote cutting in a Uchisaiwai-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100.

55
892 SHORT NOTE (S. Yanagihara et al.) J, Nucl. Sci. Technol.,

Fig. 1 Block diagram of JARM-25 system

(3) Dismantling Procedure The dismantling repeated in the following

Prior to dismantling reactor internals, the procedures :
reactor pressure vessel was filled with water (1) The first (next) key positions for cutting
to prevent the radiation emitted upward from were determined considering the shape of
the core section. The support structure for the reactor internals to be cut and also
the robotic manipulator was build over the the space available for torch approach.
reactor pool, and was enclosed by a plastic (2) The key positions were stored in the
tent for local ventilation. The schematic view computer using the master-slave mode of
of the dismantling operation is shown in manipulator operation.
Fig. 2. (3) Torch travel lines were calculated on
the basis of the input key positions.
(4) The torch was driven without operating
the plasma arc in the playback control
mode, and the paths of the torch nozzle
and manipulator motions were monitored
by the TV system to confirm the accuracy
of the torch travel paths.
(5) Finally, the torch was driven in the
playback mode with the plasma arc oper-
ating and the reactor internals were cut.
2. Results and Discussion

(1) Dismantlement of Reactor Internals

Three reactor internals, the core spray
block, the feedwater sparger and the core
grid support bolts, were successfully disman-
tled using the developed underwater plasma
arc cutting system operated by the JARM-25.
The cutting conditions and the characteristics
of the dismantled reactor internals are sum-
Fig. 2 Schematic view of dismantling operation
marized in Table 1. Figure 3 shows the
with robotic manipulator controlled major cutting paths and the shape of these
underwater plasma arc cutting system reactor internals together with their locations

56
Vol. 25, No. 11 (Nov. 1988) SHORT NOTE (S. Yanagihara et al.) 893

Table 1 Cutting features and characteristics of the dismantled reactor internals

in the reactor pressure

vessel. These cutting
paths were previously
determined considering
the space for torch ap-
proaching and cutting
capability of the system.
Photograph 1 shows an
example of monitored
core spray block which
was cut on the side
wall. Since the core in-
ternals could clearly be
monitored, as shown in
the photo, the monitoring
TV was found to be
quite useful for confirm-
ing the cutting situation Fig. 3 Shape and cutting paths of each reactor internals to be cut
such as the torch posi- together with their location in reactor pressure vessel
tion. The cutting was
completed without any serious problems ex-
cept dross bridging. In the cutting operation,
dross was produced and joined the cut pieces
to prevent them from separating. The
cut pieces could be removed from the wall
of the reactor pressure vessel in such a way
that the dross bridge was hit by a long pole.
The easiness of the dismantling works was
owing to verification of the previously de-
monstrated mockup cutting tests(4).
(2) Work Analysis
A wide variety of useful data are expected
to be obtained through the JPDR dismantling Photo. 1 Core spray block monitored
with underwater TV system
activities. Data of manpower and radiation
after cutting of its right-side
exposure to workers are of great importance

57
894 SHORT NOTE (S. Yanagihara et al.) J. Nucl. Sci. Technol.,

to evaluate efficiency of the dismantling tasks. 400~800 mR/h (2.9 x 10-8~5.6 x10-8 C/kg,s) for
A total of 882 man-days was found to be the core grid support bolts. The dismantled
needed for the dismantling activity in the components will be put into containers of
followings : various types according to the radiation level.
After the reactor internals were dismantled,
Preparation :124 man-days
the working area was cleaned up. All tools
Assembling of devices : 220 man-days
and devices were taken out from the radiation
Dismantling :368 man-days
controlled area after it was confirmed that
Disassembling of devices : 89 man-days
there was no radioactive contamination on
Cleaning up :81 man-days
their surfaces. The strippable paint coated
Since the total weight of the dismantled over the surface of the slave arm was proved
reactor internals was approximately 170 kg, to be quite useful to remove the contamination
the work efficiency, that is, the ratio of man- easily. Almost all contamination could be
powers needed for the dismantling activity to removed together with the paint stripped from
the weight of the dismantled components was the surface of the slave arm, though the
calculated to be approximately 2,200 man-days contamination caused by strong contact with
per ton. This was extremely large compared the wall of the reactor pressure vessel, which
with the other works such as dismantling of was 10-10Ci/cm2 (3.7x104 Bq/m2) in maximum,
the reactor pressure vessel head and piping, was not removed. Except these contaminated
because the work efficiency of these activities components, waste of about 540 kg in total
was in the range of 10~50 man-days per ton. weight was secondly produced. This included
In spite of this low work efficiency, cumu- vinyl sheets and groves which were mainly
lative radiation exposure to workers was used by visitors for study and observation.
measured to be less than 0.05 man-rems (5x 3. Concluding Remarks
10-4 man,Sv) though the environmental dose The underwater plasma arc cutting system
rate was high around the location of these operated by the JARM-25 was proved to be
reactor internals in the core. The maximum quite useful to dismantle reactor components
dose rate was calculated to be approximately and to minimize radiation exposure to workers
30 R/h (2.2 x 10-6 C/kg,s) in air environment, as well. During 1988, the dismantled pieces
which is mainly caused by g-ray emitting from and some instruments stored in the spent fuel
the wall of the core shroud. The radiation pool will be removed to provide spaces for
exposure to workers was measured during the follow-on dismantling activities. The disman-
work of lifting up and packaging of the dis- tling of the remaining reactor internals will
mantled pieces. In addition, it was confirmed begin in April 1989, using a mast-type under-
by a dust monitoring system that the air in water plasma arc cutting system. Finally, all
the working environment was kept clean reactor components and buildings will be
during the dismantling activity. The remotely completely removed and then the site will be
controlled dismantling system including the landscaped by 1992.
local ventilation was, therefore, proved to be REFERENCES
effective to minimize worker exposure, though (1) ISHIKAWA, M., et al.: Proc. Int. Conf. on Nu-
it required a large amount of man-power clear Power Performance and Safety, IAEA-
expenditure. CN-48/152, (1987), Vienna.
(3) Waste Management (2) ISHIKAWA, M., et al.: Proc. 1987 Int. Decom-
missioning Symp., Oct. 4~8, 1987, Pittsburgh,
Surface dose rate of each dismantled re-
Penn., USA, III-118.
actor internal was measured to be in the (3) YANAGIHARA, S., et al.: J. At. Energy Soc.
range of 13~17 mR/h (9.3 x10-10~1.2 x 10-9 C/ Jpn., (in Japanese), 30[3], 235~246 (1988).
kg,s) for the feedwater sparger and also (4) ASHIDA, S., et al.: Ref. (2), VI-48.

58