Appearance of Unit 1 and 2 reactor buildings at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (June 2022). Photo: Japan Nuclear Regulation Authority
The FACE project is a constructive and integrative extension of already completed projects (BSAF, PreADES and ARC-F) related to the Fukushima-Daiichi accident analysis and the preparation of the fuel debris retrieval operations. Based on the Japanese needs and expected needs of project partners, the FACE project is implemented with the following general objectives:
Three tasks are conducted to fulfil these objectives. In the first task in-depth discussions and analyses of the accident progression in the damaged units and related fission product (FP) behaviour and hydrogen (H2) combustion are performed. This task considers technical issues identified in recent Fukushima Daiichi plant investigations that are far from previous knowledge, and the quantification of uncertainties in severe accident modelling (melt progression, Molten Corium Concrete Interaction (MCCI), FP and H2 issues), considering uncertainties in boundary conditions such as the rate of alternative water injection and leakage from the containment vessels.
The second task is related to the characterisation of uranium-bearing particles and the establishment of techniques for future fuel debris analysis for D&D. It includes a study on the plausible mechanisms for the formation of uranium-bearing particles collected on-site. It contributes to the understanding of the progression of the accident and to identifying which fuel debris analysis technology and evaluation methods are most useful. An international round-robin analysis with debris simulants is also included in this scope.
Japanese organisations collect data and information from the Fukushima Daiichi plant investigation and will share them with the project partners in the third task. This is a continuation of one of the tasks initiated in the ARC-F project with an expansion of the amount of information contributed.
In 2024, two meetings were held. The first was in January 2024 at GRS, in Köln, Germany, and was attended by about 70 international experts, while the second was in September 2024 at the ANL, in Chicago, United States, with about 90 international experts. Presentations and discussions focused on the results of recent investigations on the inside of the damaged reactors, including drone investigations as well as the progress made on the activities conducted in 2024 in the three main tasks of the project. The international round-robin is well advanced with the participation of the CNL, PSI, JAEA, ANL, Idaho National Laboratory, the European Commission JRC-Karlsruhe, CEA-Marcoule, CEA-Cadarache, the UK National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and Czechia’s CVRez. The final results of the round-robin exercise will be discussed at the next FACE meeting in May 2025.
Aside from the FACE meeting in September 2024, the FRAME workshop on Future Research for Accident Management Enhancement in existing and advanced reactors considering Fukushima Daiichi’s insights, organised by the ANL, the US DOE, EPRI and the NEA, was held at the ANL on 26-27 September 2024. It was attended by 110 participants from 15 countries, 45 national organisations and 3 international organisations, including from industry, regulators, research organisations, technical support organisations and universities. It was agreed that collaborative research efforts should continue to maximise the benefits of the Fukushima Daiichi accident analyses, recognising that there are several remaining knowledge gaps about the accident, e.g., regarding reactor vessel rupture, ex-vessel phenomena and radioactive release, that should be addressed by future investigations.
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Canada, the European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States
July 2022 - July 2026
717 175 EUR