Framatome Technologies (FTI) is to carry out segmentation of the reactor vessel internals of the Maine Yankee plant, it was announced recently. In this process FTI is acting as subcontractor to Stone & Webster Engineering, which has overall responsibility for decommissioning the plant.
The internals will be cut using abrasive water jet and mechanical cutting techniques. They will be operated remotely, within the refuelling cavity and under water to minimise personnel exposure. The company says that the limited workspace, the geometry of the internals, the activity and the need to minimise radiological dose and secondary waste will all present challenges to the operation.
FTI has turnkey responsibility for the segmentation project, including packaging of the segmented internals for disposal, containing and collecting the waste resulting from the process, and for maintaining water clarity and cleanliness of the cavity during and after the process. The company says it has been working on pre-deployment preparations for the project for five months, and will begin segmentation in early 2000.
