A study on pressurizer cutting scenario for radiation dose reduction for workers using VISIPLAN

The operations in the design lifecycle of a nuclear power plant targeted to be decommissioned lead to neutron activation. Operations in the decommissioning process include cutting, decontamination, disposal, and processing. Among these, cutting is done close to the target material, and thus workers are exposed to radiation. As there are only a few studies on pressurizers, there arises the need for further research to assess the radiation exposure dose. This study obtained the specifications of the AP1000 pressurizer of Westinghouse and the distribution of radionuclide inventory of a pressurizer in a pressurised water reactor for evaluation based on literature studies. A cutting scenario was created to develop an optimal method so that the cut pieces fill a radioactive solid waste drum with dimensions 0.571 m × 0.834 m. The estimated exposure dose, estimated using the tool VISIPLAN SW, in terms of the decontamination factor (DF) ranged from DF-0 to DF-100, indicating that DF-90 and DF-100 meet the ICRP recommendation on exposure dose 0.0057 mSv/h. At the end of the study, although flame cutting was considered the most efficient method in terms of cutting speed, laser cutting was the most reasonable one in terms of the financial aspects and secondary waste.