Present status of refurbishment and irradiation technologies in JMTR

The Japan Materials Testing Reactor (JMTR) of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency is a testing reactor for various neutron irradiation tests on nuclear fuels and materials, as well as for radioisotope production. The operation of JMTR stopped temporarily in August 2006 for refurbishment and improvement. The renewed JMTR will resume operation in Japanese fiscal year 2011. The renewal of aged reactor components, the preparation of new irradiation facilities, and the development of irradiation technologies have been carried out for the resumption of the new JMTR. The new JMTR with the new irradiation facilities and the irradiation technologies will be utilized for the research and development of fission and fusion reactor fuels and materials. This paper describes the present status of the refurbishment and the irradiation technologies focused on instrumentation such as the multi-paired thermocouple which is applicable to irradiation temperature control and a ceramic oxygen sensor in JMTR.