Cutting technique for reactor internals by laser beam

At present in Japan the verification tests on the commercial nuclear power reactor decommissioning technology are being conducted as the project of The Ministry of International Trade and Industry by Nuclear Power Engineering Test Center. This paper summarizes the interim results of the verification test for the reactor core internals decommissioning technology, which is being conducted from 1986 as a theme of the above project. All core internals to be studied here are made of stainless steel, and the maximum wall thickness is about 500mm (the maximum one to be cut is about 300mm) for the PWR's, and about 100mm for the BWR's. Though the plasma cutting, arc saw cutting method, etc. have been studied u p to now as the cutting technology for decommissioning these core internals, the authors are carrying out the development and verification test of the cutting technology with the laser beam, which is expected to increase its power in future and can be applied to various materials