November 27, 2014

Monthly Press Conference

Today, President Kenji Kudo held a monthly press conference in Aomori City and talked about "response to the New Regulatory Requirements on reprocessing facilities" and the "continued mock-up test on the new glass melter".

"Status of response to the New Regulatory Requirements on reprocessing facilities"

  • Tomorrow, JNFL is submitting design basis amendments, which completes a full set of amendments except for severe accident countermeasures, which we intend to submit as soon as possible.
  • The latest amendments are mainly in regard to design policies, such as ‘preventing damage from fires and explosions’ and ‘preventing damage from scattered debris inside’. More specifically, the amendments clarify the scope of facilities that should be protected from fires and scattered debris, and describes impact assessment for those facilities.
  • The review meeting on seismic resistance on November 21 focused on an interim report about the results of trench and boring surveys near the southern edge of the Deto West Fault.
  • JNFL is making all-out efforts to implement the countermeasures except for those that could only be applied after obtaining a permit.
  • For example, since last autumn, JNFL has been installing weirs and watetight doors to counter internal flooding. The installation has already been completed for the spent fuel receiving & storage building, with the work to be gradually applied to other buildings.
  • Since last autumn, JNFL has also been installing structures to protect the safety coolant system’s cooling towers and other outdoor facilities in preparedness for tornados. Steel protective netting has been arranged, and the foundation work is currently underway.
  • Similarly, in preparedness for severe accidents, JNFL has finished deploying ‘water cannons’ and ‘large transfer pumps’ for spraying a large amount of water to extinguish flames and contain the spread of radioactive materials in a major fire. In preparation for fires inside cells, water-free fire extinguishing equipment that uses condensed nitrogen has also been deployed.

"Continued mock-up test on the new glass melter"

  • In order to further improve its vitrification technology, JNFL has built a modified mock-up test furnace of the same size as the actual melter at the R&D facility within the compound, and carried out Stage 1 tests using simulated liquid waste from November last year to February this year. The results demonstrated significant improvements in the furnace’s temperature control functionality and glass flow performance.
  • In response, JNFL began heating the test furnace on 17th of this month to commence Stage 2 tests, aimed at improving performance in the melter’s operation continuity and stability.
  • Tests using simulated liquid waste are scheduled from early next month to spring of next year.