Risk Assessment Strategy for Decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

• Main Authors: Akira Yamaguchi, Sunghyon Jang, Kazuki Hida, Yasunori Yamanaka, Yoshiyuki Narumiya
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2017-03-01
• Series: Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• Subjects: Decommissioning; Fukushima Daiichi Accident; Risk Assessment; Risk Management; Spent Fuel Pool
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1738573317300128

Risk management of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station decommissioning is a great challenge. In the present study, a risk management framework has been developed for the decommissioning work. It is applied to fuel assembly retrieval from Unit 3 spent fuel pool. Whole retrieval work is divided into three phases: preparation, retrieval, and transportation and storage. First of all, the end point has been established and the success path has been developed. Then, possible threats, which are internal/external and technical/societal/management, are identified and selected. “What can go wrong?” is a question about the failure scenario. The likelihoods and consequences for each scenario are roughly estimated. The whole decommissioning project will continue for several decades, i.e., long-term perspective is important. What should be emphasized is that we do not always have enough knowledge and experience of this kind. It is expected that the decommissioning can make steady and good progress in support of the proposed risk management framework. Thus, risk assessment and management are required, and the process needs to be updated in accordance with the most recent information and knowledge on the decommissioning works.