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http://dx.doi.org/10.14775/ksmpe.2022.21.01.022

A Study on Contact Arc Metal Cutting for Dismantling of Reactor Pressure Vessel  

Kim, Chan Kyu (Department of Joining Technology, Materials testing & Reliability Division, Korea Institute of Materials Science)
Moon, Do Yeong (HANTO CUTTING SYSTEM.)
Moon, Il Woo (HANTO CUTTING SYSTEM.)
Cho, Young Tae (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Changwon National Univ.)
Publication Information
Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers / v.21, no.1, 2022 , pp. 22-27 More about this Journal
Abstract
In accordance with the growing trend of decommissioning nuclear facilities, research on the cutting process is actively proceeding worldwide. In general, a thermal cutting process, such as plasma cutting is applied to decommissioning a nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV). Plasma cutting has the advantage of removing the radioactive materials and being able to cut thick materials. However, when operating under water, the molten metal remains in the cut plane and re-solidifies. Hence, cutting is not entirely accomplished. For these environmental reasons, it is difficult to cut thick metal. The contact arc metal cutting (CAMC) process can be used to cut thick metal under water. CAMC is a process that cuts metal using a plate-shaped electrode based on a high-current arc plasma heat source. During the cutting process, high-pressure water is sprayed from the electrode to remove the molten metal, known as rinsing. As the CAMC is conducted without using a shielding gas, such as Argon, the electrode is consumed during the process. In this study, CAMC is introduced as a method for dismantling nuclear vessels and the relationship between the metal removal and electrode consumption is investigated according to the cutting conditions.
Keywords
Nuclear Reactor Dismantlement; Contact Arc Metal Cutting; Under Water Cutting; Electrode Consumption; Materials Removal;
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