Laser cutting technology of thick steel components. Advanced technology developed at the era of decommissioning

In decommissioning of nuclear reactors, it is necessary to disassemble the nuclear reactor structure. In addition to the conventional cutting method, the laser method has many advantages such as remote controllability and no need for replacement parts such as blades, which can be a powerful choice. Nuclear reactor structure such as a pressure vessel are made of steel materials with a thickness exceeding 100 mm, and the laser method has poor knowledge and experience in cutting such thick steel materials. Therefore, as a result of trial cutting of steel materials under various cutting conditions with the high power fiber laser which is progressively available nowadays, it has been demonstrated that laser cutting is also possible for thick plates such as those used in nuclear reactors, and cutting of thick steel plates. We also developed the cutting technology using remote control using a robot in order to apply it to the decommissioning of thick steel cutting on the spot. (author)