Treatment of U contaminated waste generated from nuclear fuel fabrication process, 1; Ce(IV) recovery by temperature swing extraction with monoamides

Iwamoto, Toshihiro; Saito, Madoka*; Takahatake, Yoko; Watanabe, So; Watanabe, Masayuki; Naruse, Atsuki*; Tsukahara, Takehiko*

Proceedings of 30th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE30) (Internet), 4 Pages, 2023/05

Applicability of temperature swing extraction technology employing monoamides was examined for uranium contaminated waste treatment procedure. Separation experiments on simulated target solution with three kinds of monoamides with different structure showed that Ce(IV) in the solution was selectively recovered by the temperature swing extraction operation. Based on the experiments, an appropriate monoamide for the procedure was selected.

Structural changes in pH-responsive gelatin/hydroxypropyl methylcellulose phthalate blends aimed at drug-release systems

Nogami, Satoshi*; Kadota, Kazunori*; Uchiyama, Hiromasa*; Arima-Osonoi, Hiroshi*; Iwase, Hiroki*; Tominaga, Taiki*; Yamada, Takeshi*; Takata, Shinichi; Shibayama, Mitsuhiro*; Tozuka, Yuichi*

International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 190, p.989 - 998, 2021/11

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.09.074

Development of hydrogels for prevention of radioactive dust dispersion during fuel debris retrieval (Contract research); FY2019 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Osaka University*

JAEA-Review 2020-030, 55 Pages, 2020/12

JAEA-Review-2020-030.pdf:2.76MB

The Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science (CLADS), Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), had been conducting the Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project (hereafter referred to "the Project") in FY2019. The Project aims to contribute to solving problems in the nuclear energy field represented by the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. (TEPCO). For this purpose, intelligence was collected from all over the world, and basic research and human resource development were promoted by closely integrating/collaborating knowledge and experiences in various fields beyond the barrier of conventional organizations and research fields. The sponsor of the Project was moved from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to JAEA since the newly adopted proposals in FY2018. On this occasion, JAEA constructed a new research system where JAEA-academia collaboration is reinforced and medium-to-long term research/development and human resource development contributing to the decommissioning are stably and consecutively implemented. Among the adopted proposals in FY2018, this report summarizes the research results of the "Development of hydrogels for prevention of radioactive dust dispersion during fuel debris retrieval" conducted in FY2019. In this study, we propose coating fuel debris with thixotropic gel materials to suppress dust dispersion during debris retrieval. Hectorite clay mineral - borax composite gel was selected based on the viscosity, the transparency and the radiation resistance. Simulated cutting tests confirm that the gel coating effectively suppress the dust dispersion.

Development of gel filler that facilitates fuel debris retrieval (Contract research); FY2018 Center of World Intelligence Project for Nuclear Science/Technology and Human Resource Development

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Osaka University*

JAEA-Review 2019-029, 36 Pages, 2020/02

JAEA-Review-2019-029.pdf:2.33MB

JAEA/CLADS, had been conducting the Center of World Intelligence Project for Nuclear Science/Technology and Human Resource Development (hereafter referred to "the Project") in FY2018. The Project aims to contribute to solving problems in nuclear energy field represented by the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. For this purpose, intelligence was collected from all over the world, and basic research and human resource development were promoted by closely integrating/collaborating knowledge and experiences in various fields beyond the barrier of conventional organizations and research fields. The sponsor of the Project was moved from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to JAEA since the newly adopted proposals in FY2018. On this occasion, JAEA constructed a new research system where JAEA-academia collaboration is reinforced and medium-to-long term research/development and human resource development contributing to the decommissioning are stably and consecutively implemented. Among the adopted proposals in FY2018, this report summarizes the research results of the "Development of Gel Filler that Facilitates Fuel Debris Retrieval". When gel materials such as polymer, silicate and clay minerals with adjusted viscosity are used in the process of debris retrieval, the gel would not leak down from the damaged parts, resulting in the reduction of surrounding air dose rate. In addition, gel materials can reduce the diffusion and scattering of dust that is produced by cutting. For these reasons, we propose a method where inside of a containment vessel is filled by gel materials in order to simplify the debris retrieval.

Development of phosphate modified CAC cementitious systems with reduced water content for the immobilization of radioactive wastes

Garcia-Lodeiro, I.*; Irisawa, Keita; Meguro, Yoshihiro; Kinoshita, Hajime*

Proceedings of 15th International Congress on the Chemistry of Cement (ICCC 2019) (Internet), 10 Pages, 2019/09

The immobilization of low or intermediate-level radioactive wastes in cements is a common practise. Grout, a mixture of Portland cement and supplemental cementitious materials, is commonly used to encapsulate the wastes. However, the conventional cementing process based on portland cement has the risk of hydrogen gas generation, due to the radiolysis of the water intrinsically present in the cement matrix both in the pore solution and the hydrated products. The addition of phosphates to calcium aluminate cement (CAC) is interesting because this system sets and hardens via the acid-based reaction, between the acid phosphate solution and the basic CAC cement. Due to this different mechanism of reaction, it would be possible to generate a solid cementitious product with a reduced water content, which can be beneficial to minimize the risk of hydrogen gas generation associated with the radiolysis of water by radioactive wastes. The present study investigates the effect of water reduction on a phosphate modified CAC systems at different temperatures (35C, 60C, 95C, 110C,180C) in the initial 7 days of curing. Experimental results indicate that these phosphate-based cements do not form the conventional CAC crystalline hydration products in the condition tested, but provide a structural integrity despite a significant amount of water loss. The results also suggest the formation of hydroxyapatite in samples cured at 95C.

Comparison between Monte Carlo simulation and measurement with a 3D polymer gel dosimeter for dose distributions in biological samples

Furuta, Takuya; Maeyama, Takuya*; Ishikawa, Kenichi*; Fukunishi, Nobuhisa*; Fukasaku, Kazuaki*; Takagi, Shu*; Noda, Shigeho*; Himeno, Ryutaro*; Hayashi, Shinichiro*

Physics in Medicine & Biology, 60(16), p.6531 - 6546, 2015/08

https://doi.org/10.1088/0031-9155/60/16/6531

Low reproducibility of dose distribution in inhomogeneous regions such as soft matter near bones is known with the simple dose analysis currently adopted in treatment planning of particle cancer therapy. Therefore a treatment planning system based on Monte Carlo simulation having better accuracy is highly desired. In order to assess the simulation accuracy of a Monte Carlo simulation code in situations closely related to medical application, we performed a comparison of dose distribution in a biological sample obtained by experiment and that by simulation. In particular, we irradiate a carbon beam on a biological sample composed of fresh chicken meat and bones, with a PAGAT gel dosimeter placed behind it, and compare the complex dose distribution in the gel dosimeter created by the beam passing through the inhomogeneous sample. Monte Carlo simulation using PHITS code was conducted by reconstructing the biological sample from its computed tomography images. The simulation accurately reproduced the experimental distal edge structure of the dose distribution with an accuracy under about 2 mm.

Thermo- and pH-sensitive gel membranes based on poly-(acryloyl--proline methyl ester)--poly(acrylic acid) for selective permeation of metal ions

Hasegawa, Shin; Ohashi, Hitoshi; Maekawa, Yasunari; Katakai, Ryoichi*; Yoshida, Masaru

Radiation Physics and Chemistry, 72(5), p.595 - 600, 2005/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2004.03.016

Thermo- and pH-responsive gel membranes were synthesized by -ray grafting of pH-responsive poly (acrylic acid) (AAc) onto thermo-responsive polymer gel of acryloyl--proline methyl ester (A-ProOMe). The gel membranes of poly (A-ProOMe) with 15 mol% graft chains of AAc exhibited both thermo- and pH-responses. Under the condition (pH 6.0, 30C) in which the thermo-sensitive unit shrinks and the pH-sensitive unit swells, the selective permeation of Li ion over Co and Ni ions can be achieved.

New laser decontamination technique for radioactively contaminated metal surfaces using acid-bearing sodium silicate gel

Kameo, Yutaka; Nakashima, Mikio; Hirabayashi, Takakuni*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 41(9), p.919 - 924, 2004/09

https://doi.org/10.3327/jnst.41.919

A new laser decontamination method utilizing a gel made from a sodium silicate solution and an acid was developed for removing radioactive nuclide incorporated into a surface oxide layer on metal waste. Decontamination tests were carried out using both simulated contaminated samples and pipe specimens cut from the primary coolant system of the Japan Power Demonstration Reactor. In the case of surface oxide layer consisting mainly of iron oxide, more than 99% of surface radioactivities were removed after two to three decontamination runs. In order to ascertain the role of laser irradiation on chemical reactions, chemical states of O and Fe in the oxide layer before and after decontamination were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that the oxide layer was dissolved into the acid-containing gel, and the reaction was extensively promoted by the laser irradiation.

Applicability of a model predicting iodine-129 profile in a silver nitrate silica-gel column for dissolver off-gas treatment of fuel reprocessing

Mineo, Hideaki; Goto, Minoru; Iizuka, Masaru*; Fujisaki, Susumu; Hagiya, Hiromichi*; Uchiyama, Gunzo

Separation Science and Technology, 38(9), p.1981 - 2001, 2003/05

https://doi.org/10.1081/SS-120020130

no abstracts in English

A High repetition rate, single-frequency Nd:YAG laser oscillator and its characteristics

Maruyama, Yoichiro; Oba, Masaki; Kato, Masaaki

JAERI-Tech 2002-004, 13 Pages, 2002/02

JAERI-Tech-2002-004.pdf:3.65MB

For the in-situ measurement of various substances in the atmosphere by using DIAL (Differential Absorption LIDAR) , a high repetition rate tunable laser is required to obtain data within a few seconds. As the pump source of the tunable laser, the performance of high repetition rate and high average power is indispensable. For the generation of high quality laser radiation, a laser oscillator with 1 kHz pulse repetition rate is made and seeded with very narrow linewidth single-longitudinal mode laser radiation from the outside of the oscillator cavity and its characteristics are studied. As the results, after the thermal equilibrium of the oscillator laser crystal, a single-longitudinal and near TEMoo transverse mode are realized at the pulse repetition rate between 0.5kHz and 1kHz. Single frequency operation is preserved by controlling the cavity length. The average output power of 3W (3mJ per pulse) is obtained. It is confirmed that this oscillator has enough performance as a oscillator of MOPA (Master Oscillator Power amplifier) system.