Study on reactor vessel replacement (RVR) for 1100 MW class BWR plants in Japan

Plant Life Management (PLM) is being studied in Japan, and reactor vessel replacement (RVR) is being considered as one option. Since reactor internals, except for reusable parts, and the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) are replaced, the RVR provides an effective technology for extending the service life of nuclear power plants substantially. At ICONE 7, we reported on the technical viability of the RVR for BWR4-type 800 MWe class plants. This time, we rationalized the RVR method through a study for BWR5-type 1100 MWe class plants to reduce the RVR duration and evaluated the technical viability and the economic efficiency of the method. In addition, we discuss how to dispose of the RPV to complete a scenario of the process from the RVR to its final disposal. (author)