Current activities in development of PIE techniques in JMTR hot laboratory

A wide variety of post-irradiation examinations (PIEs) for research and development of nuclear fuels and materials to be utilized in nuclear field has been carried out since 1971 in three kinds of β-γ hot cells; concrete, lead and steel cells in the JMTR Hot Laboratory (JMTR HL) associated with the Japan Materials Testing Reactor (JMTR). In addition to PIEs, the re-capsuling work including re-instrumentation was also conducted for the power ramping tests of the irradiated LWR fuels using Boiling Water Capsule (BOCA). Recently, new PIE techniques are required for the advanced irradiation studies. In this paper, the irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) growth test technique of irradiated in-core structural materials and the remote operation technique of the atomic force microscope (AFM) are described as JMTR HL's current activities in the development of new PIE techniques. (author)