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Japanese site for ITER; Rokkasho
Fusion Engineering and Design 69 (2003) 553 /561 www.elsevier.com/locate/fusengdes
Japanese site for ITER; Rokkasho Japanese ITER Site Forum 1, Hiroshi Kishimoto * 2-2-2 uchisaiwaicho, Chiyodaku, Tokyo 100-0011, Japan
Abstract This paper describes the status of Japanese efforts for hosting ITER in Japan. In May 2002, Japanese Government decided to propose an ITER site, Rokkasho in Aomori Prefecture, a Northern part of the main island, based on the comprehensive/intensive assessments by the Site Selection Committee established by Japanese Government. ITER is designed basically with a potential flexibility beyond the detailed technical objectives to have more clear scope for developing technical key elements in a future power plant. Various flexibilities in the construction, operation and decommissioning of ITER are totally assessed. Consequently the Japanese site has been chosen and it satisfies sufficiently not only the Site Requirements and the Site Design Assumptions but also the further extension and flexibilities. In particular the potential for more flexible construction schedule and operations is technically described as well as the fulfillment of the site requirements and its assumptions as the minimum requirements in this paper. The socio-cultural environment is also described briefly because of a key aspect for the scientists and engineers who will participate in the project. # 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V. Keywords: ITER; Rokkasho; Japanese site
1. Introduction ITER is a critical path in the fusion energy development and is authorized as a principal device in the third phase basic program of the fusion development in Japan. Aiming at demonstration of a fusion power in future plant, a set of detailed technical objectives were defined by the ITER Council at the beginning of the Engineering
* Corresponding author. Tel.: /81-3-3592-2215; fax: /81-33592-2159. E-mail address: [email protected] (H. Kishimoto). 1 Composed of Japanese Government (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology), Aomori Prefecture, and Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. 0920-3796/03/$ - see front matter # 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/S0920-3796(03)00131-5
Design Activity (EDA) and were revised at the beginning of the extended EDA. Consequently, the ITER Joint Central Team and the Home Teams of the EDA participants completed successfully the final design report (FDR) that includes the technical basis, detail design, safety aspects and cost in July of 2001. During the EDA, three candidate sites were informally considered as the ITER site in Japan and these sites have well potential benefits for estimates the ITER site not only in the physical aspects but also in the socio-cultural infrastructures. In May 2002, Japanese Government has officially selected a single site, Rokkasho-mura in order to promote the hosting of ITER based on the comprehensive/intensive discussions by the Site
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H. Kishimoto / Fusion Engineering and Design 69 (2003) 553 /561
Selection Committee established by the Japanese Government. The Rokkasho site is located in Aomori prefecture, a Northern part of the main island. This site satisfies all the ITER compulsory site requirements and the site design assumptions described in the ITER FDR [1]. In addition, ITER is designed with a sufficient potential flexibility beyond the detailed technical objectives, such as the capability of long pulse and high beta operations that will be the key elements in realizing a future power plant. It is also important for an ITER site to meet a comprehensive scenario for the construction, operation and decommissioning, by taking into account of the flexibility. Rokkasho site is considered to be the best one for the ITER Project. In this paper, assuming the project roadmap as shown in Fig. 1, capabilities for the construction/operation are mainly described in Section 2. Decommissioning and socio-cultural infrastructures are briefly presented in Sections 3 and 4, respectively.
2. Construction Major issues to be considered for the ITER project are the characteristics of land, transportation, heat rejection and electrical power.
2.1. Land In the proposed Rokkasho site, a sufficiently wide and single area around 70 ha will be freely provided to the ITER Legal Entity (ILE) on loan without rent during the period necessary for the construction, operation, and the deactivation. Additional land area up to 70 ha will be available. As seen in Fig. 2 the site is located in the MutsuOgawara Development Area very close to nuclear fuel cycle facilities. With regard to the geological characteristics of the site, the Neogene Takahoko Strata (tertiary subsoil) widely extend with adequate thickness as is the case in the neighboring Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facility. The recent geological investigation at the site area confirmed a bearing capability of more than 200 ton/m2 and a sufficient thickness and extent with the Takahoko Strata at about 20 m below the ground level. Excavation work will be carried out together with the earth work taking into account of the ground water protection. By employing the direct foundation onto the Takahoko Strata, a long-term surface load of 65 ton/m2 can be easily supported for the Tokamak Building with a sufficient margin. For other buildings various foundation methods are available, such as pillar foundations so that support of a long-term surface load of 25 ton/ m2 will be satisfied. The tentative layout of the
Fig. 1. Roadmap of the ITER project.
H. Kishimoto / Fusion Engineering and Design 69 (2003) 553 /561
Fig. 2. Location of the Rokkasho site. (a) Aomori prefecture. (b) Rokkasho area.
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Fig. 3. East aerial view of the ITER facility.
ITER facility (cooling tower option) is shown in Fig. 3 considering the routes of the electrical power supply, the potable/industrial water supply/drainage, component transportation during the machine assembly/operation phases and with the geological characteristics/other environmental concerns. With regard to the seismic load, the basic approach for developing the seismic design has been established by the regulatory authorities, as a part of the fundamental approach to ensure safety of the ITER plant. Based on this approach, the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) has been formulating the seismic/isolation design standards through a review at the Ad-hoc Technical Committee with experts from the neutral institutes in Japan. The basic objective of seismic design for ITER is to design safety systems, components and facilities within the elastic regime against the design basis earthquake whose ground motion is determined adequately from the past
earthquakes by considering the safety features of ITER. In accordance with the records of ground motions caused by the past earthquakes around the Rokkasho site and referring to the practice of nuclear facilities near the site, the level of ground motions by earthquakes is not so high and also no conspicuous active fault exists at this area. For example, the design basis earthquake with a peak acceleration of about 230 Gals is considered for the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facility located near the site. Preliminary studies including the dynamic analysis show that the application of the well-experienced rubber bearings to the Tokamak Building as the seismic isolation enhances the reliability of integrity with a sufficient margin even for earthquakes beyond the design basis earthquake. Fig. 4 shows an example of Tokamak Building with seismic isolation and the acceleration affecting to the components can be adequately reduced with the seismic period of approximately 3 s in this site.
H. Kishimoto / Fusion Engineering and Design 69 (2003) 553 /561
557
Fig. 4. An example of the foundation structure plan for the tokamak building.
In addition, the relative displacement among the components can be also limited so that interference is prevented.
2.2. Transportation Near the Rokkasho site, a 5000 t (DWT) class ship can be docked at one of the wharfs (North Wharf) in the Mutsu-Ogawara Port (Fig. 5). Large components as heavy as 1000 tons, which exceeds the Site Design Assumption, can be unloaded by an installation of the crane facilities in the port and are transported to the site by using the existing transporters that consist of a proper number of module carriers as shown in Fig. 6. The preparation of a dedicated road from the port to the site can allow further capability in the direct transportation, e.g. even large PF coils. Possibility to transport the further larger and/or heavier component in which may give an advantage to the construction process and its schedule is under evaluation. South wharf (2000 t (DWT) capacity) can be utilized for unloading the frequent and lighter packages. Therefore, the reduction in transportation time is expected so that constraints for the transportation and initial assembly schedule become more flexible in this site.
2.3. Heat rejection With regard to heat rejection to the environment, this site meets well the site requirement/site design assumption and there are two possible ways either by releasing the cooling water to the sea or by using cooling towers. In case of heat rejection to the sea, the temperature increment of the seawater should be kept lower than 7 8C at the local point. Also effects to the neighboring fishing zone and the ecosystem environment must be considered (5/1 8C). In the previous assessment, even a heat release of 3200 MW to the sea will not violate these restrictive conditions according to the environmental study in this site. It means that no any fatal constraint on continuous heat rejection from the ITER facility exists in this site. On the other hand, in the case of a cooling tower option which is the original design made by the ITER Joint Central Team the maximum supply of the industrial water is 33 000 m3/day whose value exceeds the site design assumption (about 23 000 m3/day). Both options give us sufficient potential to reject the heat produced not only during any operations specified in FDR, but also further flexible operations such as continuous operation with high fusion power.
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H. Kishimoto / Fusion Engineering and Design 69 (2003) 553 /561
Fig. 5. Possible transportation routes to the site.
Fig. 6. An example of the transportation carrier.
H. Kishimoto / Fusion Engineering and Design 69 (2003) 553 /561
2.4. Energy and electrical power It is possible to supply secure steady state electric power (two connections to the grid) necessary for the ITER facility by installing the dedicated power transmission lines from Kamikita Substation (30 km South of the Rokkasho site, with an interconnection at the 275 kV level) to the site. Basically, the electric power reliability of the 275 kV grid in the past 10 years is very high and satisfies the site design assumptions. Pulse electrical power during the operation phase (after 2013) can also be supplied by installing the dedicated power transmission line from the existing Kamikita Substation to the site. Technical analyses were conducted by JAERI in cooperation with the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry and followed by the utility company. These show that fluctuations of frequency and voltage on the electrical power grid due to the pulse power load of ITER can be suppressed by the power supplementary system within the practically acceptable limits. As seen in Fig. 7, this system consists of the energy storage system (the variable speed FWMG with the
559
discharge energy of about 4 GJ) and the reactive power compensation system (the static VAR compensators with a capacity of about a few hundreds MVAR). In particular this system can be realized by applying the recent Japanese technology of local energy storage system in a market can reduce the impact of the fluctuations in the frequency and voltage. By adding the supplementary system to the ITER pulse power supply system, ITER will gain a higher control flexibility, operation performance and reliability for developing high beta and long burn scenarios aiming at realizing a fusion power plant. 2.5. Industrial infrastructures Japanese industries, which participated in the construction/operation of JT-60 and in the R&D projects during the EDA, have accumulated the sufficient capability of fabrication of ITER. For the construction of ITER in this site, a sufficient workforce will be available based on the experience of the construction of the nuclear fuel cycle facilities. More than 1000 companies participated in this project and about a half of them were from
Fig. 7. Diagram of the supplemental power supply system.
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Aomori Prefecture (construction, civil engineering companies: 800, mechanical, electric, chemical companies: 500). Also the peak employment was recorded as 10 000 workers/day (4000 workers from Aomori Prefecture). Temporary lodging facilities will be set up in addition to the lodging capacity in the neighboring towns.
3. Decommissioning After the final shutdown, the radioactive waste from the ITER facility will be managed and disposed as the low level radioactive waste in accordance with the report, ‘‘Basic Principle for processing and disposal of waste generated from RI facilities and laboratories (Atomic Energy Commission of Japan, 1998)’’ in Japan. In this report, the low-level radioactive waste is classified into the following three categories and the methods of processing and disposal are identified in each category. . Very low level waste: Trench Disposal (typically less than 30 m), requiring the site control for up to 50 years. . Low level waste: Shallow-land Disposal, requiring the site control for up to 300 years. . High Beta-gamma waste: Intermediate Depth Disposal (50 /100 m), requiring the site control for up to 300 years. The Aomori Prefecture as the local government for the ITER site has agreed to the buried disposal of radioactive materials inside the prefecture as a logical choice such that the radioactive materials generated from the operation and decommissioning of ITER are to be processed and disposed at the place where the research is implemented. Besides, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Center is under operation by the Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. (just in the vicinity of the ITER site) and also preparatory work is under way for constructing the burial facility for high BetaGamma waste in the Land Burial Center.
4. Socio-cultural aspects 4.1. Spacious living environment and nature Near the Rokkasho site, there are several cities where can serve public/private housings and shopping areas. Road connections between neighboring cities are very well developed and maintained. In addition to the already developed Obuchi Laketown, a new residential community in a water front area of the village, called ‘‘Lakeside Village’’ will be built and offered for participants of ITER. In the Lakeside Village surrounded by the lake and woods, a comfortable living environment for singles and family residents will be provided. The residents could enjoy in the village with the various sports such as out door tennis, golf, outdoor/ indoor swimming, athletic, soccer and baseball. In the shopping mall, adjacent to the site, grocery shopping will be available to maintain a European or Russian dietary life. Extension of the Japanese major railway system further North, and the development of the Shimokita Motorway will very much improve the expressway connections in this area. 4.2. High standard of international education In accordance with the Japanese law, any children (regardless of citizenship) will be admitted to the Japanese school system. Rokkasho has all the educational facilities from kindergarten to senior high school (12th grade). The Aomori Prefecture is planning to establish an international school in Rokkasho Village for children of foreign visitors and residents. Basic instruction would be given in English for students from kindergarten to the 12th grade. High academic standards with International Baccalaureate qualification would be pursued so that admissions to excellent universities in the world would be possible. This international school would have dormitories, and receive not only the children of ITER participants, but also excellent students from all over Japan in order to create a multicultural intellectually vibrant environment.
H. Kishimoto / Fusion Engineering and Design 69 (2003) 553 /561
In addition, it is possible that teachers from each participant country could provide educational programs completely compatible with their own educational system. For example, French engineers working in the nuclear fuel cycle facilities and their families (/ 160 in total) already reside in the vicinity of the site. The French education is being given to the children of these families. 4.3. Dependable medical services There are four clinics and three dentists in Rokkasho Village and medical personnel can communicate in English. Misawa City has four hospitals, twenty-seven clinics and ten dental clinics. In particular, Misawa municipal hospital has 220 beds and has doctors of almost every specialization. American citizens residing at the Misawa Air Force Base regularly use the hospital, because of its well-equipped medical diagnosis machines. Hachinohe City has also 22 hospitals, 165 clinics and 100 dental clinics. In particular, Hachinohe civic hospital has 609 beds, and the Hachinohe Red Cross Hospital has 505 beds, respectively. Aomori Prefecture is preparing a comprehensive emergency medical service by defining three categories of medical care: Class 1 Emergency: Emergency care of relatively minor injury or illness.
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Class 2 Emergency: Emergency care of serious injury or illness. Class 3 Emergency: Emergency care of critical injury or illness. In the neighborhood of the site, Misawa municipal hospital has been designated as class two emergency care hospital, and Hachinohe Civic Hospital as class 3. A group of volunteers would be systematically organized to assist people of non-Japanese speakers in case of medical emergency by providing interpretation services.
5. Conclusions The Rokkasho site is surely a suitable site for the ITER Project, judging from the site-specific conditions such as the land and transportation, environmental condition, and experiences of the past/ongoing large projects. By applying the sitespecific design/preparations, ITER can be operated not only in the basic scenarios, but also the extended flexible operations. Since having a strong community support, Japan is ready for construction of ITER in Japan.
References [1] ITER Technical Basis, ITER EDA Documentation Series No. 24, IAEA, Vienna, 2002.
Japanese site for ITER; Rokkasho Japanese ITER Site Forum 1, Hiroshi Kishimoto * 2-2-2 uchisaiwaicho, Chiyodaku, Tokyo 100-0011, Japan
Abstract This paper describes the status of Japanese efforts for hosting ITER in Japan. In May 2002, Japanese Government decided to propose an ITER site, Rokkasho in Aomori Prefecture, a Northern part of the main island, based on the comprehensive/intensive assessments by the Site Selection Committee established by Japanese Government. ITER is designed basically with a potential flexibility beyond the detailed technical objectives to have more clear scope for developing technical key elements in a future power plant. Various flexibilities in the construction, operation and decommissioning of ITER are totally assessed. Consequently the Japanese site has been chosen and it satisfies sufficiently not only the Site Requirements and the Site Design Assumptions but also the further extension and flexibilities. In particular the potential for more flexible construction schedule and operations is technically described as well as the fulfillment of the site requirements and its assumptions as the minimum requirements in this paper. The socio-cultural environment is also described briefly because of a key aspect for the scientists and engineers who will participate in the project. # 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V. Keywords: ITER; Rokkasho; Japanese site
1. Introduction ITER is a critical path in the fusion energy development and is authorized as a principal device in the third phase basic program of the fusion development in Japan. Aiming at demonstration of a fusion power in future plant, a set of detailed technical objectives were defined by the ITER Council at the beginning of the Engineering
* Corresponding author. Tel.: /81-3-3592-2215; fax: /81-33592-2159. E-mail address: [email protected] (H. Kishimoto). 1 Composed of Japanese Government (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology), Aomori Prefecture, and Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. 0920-3796/03/$ - see front matter # 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/S0920-3796(03)00131-5
Design Activity (EDA) and were revised at the beginning of the extended EDA. Consequently, the ITER Joint Central Team and the Home Teams of the EDA participants completed successfully the final design report (FDR) that includes the technical basis, detail design, safety aspects and cost in July of 2001. During the EDA, three candidate sites were informally considered as the ITER site in Japan and these sites have well potential benefits for estimates the ITER site not only in the physical aspects but also in the socio-cultural infrastructures. In May 2002, Japanese Government has officially selected a single site, Rokkasho-mura in order to promote the hosting of ITER based on the comprehensive/intensive discussions by the Site
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H. Kishimoto / Fusion Engineering and Design 69 (2003) 553 /561
Selection Committee established by the Japanese Government. The Rokkasho site is located in Aomori prefecture, a Northern part of the main island. This site satisfies all the ITER compulsory site requirements and the site design assumptions described in the ITER FDR [1]. In addition, ITER is designed with a sufficient potential flexibility beyond the detailed technical objectives, such as the capability of long pulse and high beta operations that will be the key elements in realizing a future power plant. It is also important for an ITER site to meet a comprehensive scenario for the construction, operation and decommissioning, by taking into account of the flexibility. Rokkasho site is considered to be the best one for the ITER Project. In this paper, assuming the project roadmap as shown in Fig. 1, capabilities for the construction/operation are mainly described in Section 2. Decommissioning and socio-cultural infrastructures are briefly presented in Sections 3 and 4, respectively.
2. Construction Major issues to be considered for the ITER project are the characteristics of land, transportation, heat rejection and electrical power.
2.1. Land In the proposed Rokkasho site, a sufficiently wide and single area around 70 ha will be freely provided to the ITER Legal Entity (ILE) on loan without rent during the period necessary for the construction, operation, and the deactivation. Additional land area up to 70 ha will be available. As seen in Fig. 2 the site is located in the MutsuOgawara Development Area very close to nuclear fuel cycle facilities. With regard to the geological characteristics of the site, the Neogene Takahoko Strata (tertiary subsoil) widely extend with adequate thickness as is the case in the neighboring Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facility. The recent geological investigation at the site area confirmed a bearing capability of more than 200 ton/m2 and a sufficient thickness and extent with the Takahoko Strata at about 20 m below the ground level. Excavation work will be carried out together with the earth work taking into account of the ground water protection. By employing the direct foundation onto the Takahoko Strata, a long-term surface load of 65 ton/m2 can be easily supported for the Tokamak Building with a sufficient margin. For other buildings various foundation methods are available, such as pillar foundations so that support of a long-term surface load of 25 ton/ m2 will be satisfied. The tentative layout of the
Fig. 1. Roadmap of the ITER project.
H. Kishimoto / Fusion Engineering and Design 69 (2003) 553 /561
Fig. 2. Location of the Rokkasho site. (a) Aomori prefecture. (b) Rokkasho area.
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Fig. 3. East aerial view of the ITER facility.
ITER facility (cooling tower option) is shown in Fig. 3 considering the routes of the electrical power supply, the potable/industrial water supply/drainage, component transportation during the machine assembly/operation phases and with the geological characteristics/other environmental concerns. With regard to the seismic load, the basic approach for developing the seismic design has been established by the regulatory authorities, as a part of the fundamental approach to ensure safety of the ITER plant. Based on this approach, the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) has been formulating the seismic/isolation design standards through a review at the Ad-hoc Technical Committee with experts from the neutral institutes in Japan. The basic objective of seismic design for ITER is to design safety systems, components and facilities within the elastic regime against the design basis earthquake whose ground motion is determined adequately from the past
earthquakes by considering the safety features of ITER. In accordance with the records of ground motions caused by the past earthquakes around the Rokkasho site and referring to the practice of nuclear facilities near the site, the level of ground motions by earthquakes is not so high and also no conspicuous active fault exists at this area. For example, the design basis earthquake with a peak acceleration of about 230 Gals is considered for the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facility located near the site. Preliminary studies including the dynamic analysis show that the application of the well-experienced rubber bearings to the Tokamak Building as the seismic isolation enhances the reliability of integrity with a sufficient margin even for earthquakes beyond the design basis earthquake. Fig. 4 shows an example of Tokamak Building with seismic isolation and the acceleration affecting to the components can be adequately reduced with the seismic period of approximately 3 s in this site.
H. Kishimoto / Fusion Engineering and Design 69 (2003) 553 /561
557
Fig. 4. An example of the foundation structure plan for the tokamak building.
In addition, the relative displacement among the components can be also limited so that interference is prevented.
2.2. Transportation Near the Rokkasho site, a 5000 t (DWT) class ship can be docked at one of the wharfs (North Wharf) in the Mutsu-Ogawara Port (Fig. 5). Large components as heavy as 1000 tons, which exceeds the Site Design Assumption, can be unloaded by an installation of the crane facilities in the port and are transported to the site by using the existing transporters that consist of a proper number of module carriers as shown in Fig. 6. The preparation of a dedicated road from the port to the site can allow further capability in the direct transportation, e.g. even large PF coils. Possibility to transport the further larger and/or heavier component in which may give an advantage to the construction process and its schedule is under evaluation. South wharf (2000 t (DWT) capacity) can be utilized for unloading the frequent and lighter packages. Therefore, the reduction in transportation time is expected so that constraints for the transportation and initial assembly schedule become more flexible in this site.
2.3. Heat rejection With regard to heat rejection to the environment, this site meets well the site requirement/site design assumption and there are two possible ways either by releasing the cooling water to the sea or by using cooling towers. In case of heat rejection to the sea, the temperature increment of the seawater should be kept lower than 7 8C at the local point. Also effects to the neighboring fishing zone and the ecosystem environment must be considered (5/1 8C). In the previous assessment, even a heat release of 3200 MW to the sea will not violate these restrictive conditions according to the environmental study in this site. It means that no any fatal constraint on continuous heat rejection from the ITER facility exists in this site. On the other hand, in the case of a cooling tower option which is the original design made by the ITER Joint Central Team the maximum supply of the industrial water is 33 000 m3/day whose value exceeds the site design assumption (about 23 000 m3/day). Both options give us sufficient potential to reject the heat produced not only during any operations specified in FDR, but also further flexible operations such as continuous operation with high fusion power.
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Fig. 5. Possible transportation routes to the site.
Fig. 6. An example of the transportation carrier.
H. Kishimoto / Fusion Engineering and Design 69 (2003) 553 /561
2.4. Energy and electrical power It is possible to supply secure steady state electric power (two connections to the grid) necessary for the ITER facility by installing the dedicated power transmission lines from Kamikita Substation (30 km South of the Rokkasho site, with an interconnection at the 275 kV level) to the site. Basically, the electric power reliability of the 275 kV grid in the past 10 years is very high and satisfies the site design assumptions. Pulse electrical power during the operation phase (after 2013) can also be supplied by installing the dedicated power transmission line from the existing Kamikita Substation to the site. Technical analyses were conducted by JAERI in cooperation with the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry and followed by the utility company. These show that fluctuations of frequency and voltage on the electrical power grid due to the pulse power load of ITER can be suppressed by the power supplementary system within the practically acceptable limits. As seen in Fig. 7, this system consists of the energy storage system (the variable speed FWMG with the
559
discharge energy of about 4 GJ) and the reactive power compensation system (the static VAR compensators with a capacity of about a few hundreds MVAR). In particular this system can be realized by applying the recent Japanese technology of local energy storage system in a market can reduce the impact of the fluctuations in the frequency and voltage. By adding the supplementary system to the ITER pulse power supply system, ITER will gain a higher control flexibility, operation performance and reliability for developing high beta and long burn scenarios aiming at realizing a fusion power plant. 2.5. Industrial infrastructures Japanese industries, which participated in the construction/operation of JT-60 and in the R&D projects during the EDA, have accumulated the sufficient capability of fabrication of ITER. For the construction of ITER in this site, a sufficient workforce will be available based on the experience of the construction of the nuclear fuel cycle facilities. More than 1000 companies participated in this project and about a half of them were from
Fig. 7. Diagram of the supplemental power supply system.
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Aomori Prefecture (construction, civil engineering companies: 800, mechanical, electric, chemical companies: 500). Also the peak employment was recorded as 10 000 workers/day (4000 workers from Aomori Prefecture). Temporary lodging facilities will be set up in addition to the lodging capacity in the neighboring towns.
3. Decommissioning After the final shutdown, the radioactive waste from the ITER facility will be managed and disposed as the low level radioactive waste in accordance with the report, ‘‘Basic Principle for processing and disposal of waste generated from RI facilities and laboratories (Atomic Energy Commission of Japan, 1998)’’ in Japan. In this report, the low-level radioactive waste is classified into the following three categories and the methods of processing and disposal are identified in each category. . Very low level waste: Trench Disposal (typically less than 30 m), requiring the site control for up to 50 years. . Low level waste: Shallow-land Disposal, requiring the site control for up to 300 years. . High Beta-gamma waste: Intermediate Depth Disposal (50 /100 m), requiring the site control for up to 300 years. The Aomori Prefecture as the local government for the ITER site has agreed to the buried disposal of radioactive materials inside the prefecture as a logical choice such that the radioactive materials generated from the operation and decommissioning of ITER are to be processed and disposed at the place where the research is implemented. Besides, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Center is under operation by the Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. (just in the vicinity of the ITER site) and also preparatory work is under way for constructing the burial facility for high BetaGamma waste in the Land Burial Center.
4. Socio-cultural aspects 4.1. Spacious living environment and nature Near the Rokkasho site, there are several cities where can serve public/private housings and shopping areas. Road connections between neighboring cities are very well developed and maintained. In addition to the already developed Obuchi Laketown, a new residential community in a water front area of the village, called ‘‘Lakeside Village’’ will be built and offered for participants of ITER. In the Lakeside Village surrounded by the lake and woods, a comfortable living environment for singles and family residents will be provided. The residents could enjoy in the village with the various sports such as out door tennis, golf, outdoor/ indoor swimming, athletic, soccer and baseball. In the shopping mall, adjacent to the site, grocery shopping will be available to maintain a European or Russian dietary life. Extension of the Japanese major railway system further North, and the development of the Shimokita Motorway will very much improve the expressway connections in this area. 4.2. High standard of international education In accordance with the Japanese law, any children (regardless of citizenship) will be admitted to the Japanese school system. Rokkasho has all the educational facilities from kindergarten to senior high school (12th grade). The Aomori Prefecture is planning to establish an international school in Rokkasho Village for children of foreign visitors and residents. Basic instruction would be given in English for students from kindergarten to the 12th grade. High academic standards with International Baccalaureate qualification would be pursued so that admissions to excellent universities in the world would be possible. This international school would have dormitories, and receive not only the children of ITER participants, but also excellent students from all over Japan in order to create a multicultural intellectually vibrant environment.
H. Kishimoto / Fusion Engineering and Design 69 (2003) 553 /561
In addition, it is possible that teachers from each participant country could provide educational programs completely compatible with their own educational system. For example, French engineers working in the nuclear fuel cycle facilities and their families (/ 160 in total) already reside in the vicinity of the site. The French education is being given to the children of these families. 4.3. Dependable medical services There are four clinics and three dentists in Rokkasho Village and medical personnel can communicate in English. Misawa City has four hospitals, twenty-seven clinics and ten dental clinics. In particular, Misawa municipal hospital has 220 beds and has doctors of almost every specialization. American citizens residing at the Misawa Air Force Base regularly use the hospital, because of its well-equipped medical diagnosis machines. Hachinohe City has also 22 hospitals, 165 clinics and 100 dental clinics. In particular, Hachinohe civic hospital has 609 beds, and the Hachinohe Red Cross Hospital has 505 beds, respectively. Aomori Prefecture is preparing a comprehensive emergency medical service by defining three categories of medical care: Class 1 Emergency: Emergency care of relatively minor injury or illness.
561
Class 2 Emergency: Emergency care of serious injury or illness. Class 3 Emergency: Emergency care of critical injury or illness. In the neighborhood of the site, Misawa municipal hospital has been designated as class two emergency care hospital, and Hachinohe Civic Hospital as class 3. A group of volunteers would be systematically organized to assist people of non-Japanese speakers in case of medical emergency by providing interpretation services.
5. Conclusions The Rokkasho site is surely a suitable site for the ITER Project, judging from the site-specific conditions such as the land and transportation, environmental condition, and experiences of the past/ongoing large projects. By applying the sitespecific design/preparations, ITER can be operated not only in the basic scenarios, but also the extended flexible operations. Since having a strong community support, Japan is ready for construction of ITER in Japan.
References [1] ITER Technical Basis, ITER EDA Documentation Series No. 24, IAEA, Vienna, 2002.