Development of rapid and sensitive radionuclide analysis method by simultaneous analysis of , , and X-rays (Contract research); FY2022 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Japan Chemical Analysis Center*

JAEA-Review 2023-022, 93 Pages, 2023/12

JAEA-Review-2023-022.pdf:4.7MB

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 FY2022. 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 FY2020, this report summarizes the research results of the "Development of rapid and sensitive radionuclide analysis method by simultaneous analysis of , , and X-rays" conducted from FY2020 to FY2022. The present study aims to enable rapid analysis of radionuclides in fuel debris and waste, we have established the latest measurement system, such as the multiple -ray detection methods, and the Spectral Determination Method (hereinafter referred to as "SDM") was developed. In the research in 2022, we developed a code that handles measurement data of LSC, singles Ge, and 2D spectra (multiple ). In addition, to develop an integrated database, spectral data of 40 nuclides were obtained by actual measurements and simulation calculations.

Elucidation of solid particle interfacial phenomena in liquid sodium; Magnetic interactions on liquid metal and solid atoms at the solid interface

Tei, C.; Otaka, Masahiko; Kuwahara, Daisuke*

Chemical Physics Letters, 829, p.140755_1 - 140755_6, 2023/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cplett.2023.140755

We were able to detect the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signal of a liquid sodium clinging to the interface of solid metal particles for the first time. In this study, we confirmed the difference in the relaxation times due to the difference in the interactions between liquid sodium and metal particles suspended in the liquid sodium. It was found that the surface of the micro titanium particles and liquid metallic sodium interact physically, not chemically.

Relationship between the contact angle of pure Cu and its alloys owing to liquid Na and electronic states at the interface

Saito, Junichi; Monbernier, M.*

Surfaces and Interfaces (Internet), 41, p.103248_1 - 103248_8, 2023/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfin.2023.103248

Effect of inner wall cracking on the cavitation bubble formation in the mercury spallation target at J-PARC

Ariyoshi, Gen; Saruta, Koichi; Kogawa, Hiroyuki; Futakawa, Masatoshi; Maeno, Koki*; Li, Y.*; Tsutsui, Kihei*

Proceedings of 20th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-20) (Internet), p.1407 - 1420, 2023/08

https://doi.10.13182/NURETH20-41514

Cavitation damage on a target vessel due to proton beam-induced pressure waves is one of the crucial issues for the pulsed neutron source using a mercury spallation target. As a mitigation technique for the damage, the helium microbubble injection into the mercury has been carried out by using a swirl bubbler in order to utilize compressibility of bubbles. Moreover, double-walled structure, which consists of an outer wall and an inner wall, has been applied as the target head structure. In this study, we aim to develop an abnormality diagnostic technology to detect the inner wall cracking, which is caused by such cavitation damage, from the outside of the target vessel. The mercury flow fields in the case with the cracking are evaluated by computational fluid dynamics analysis based on finite element method. And then, effect of the cracking on the flow field is discussed from the point of view of the flow-induced vibration and the acoustic vibration.

Development of analytical approach of source term for accident of evaporation to dryness by boiling of reprocessed high level liquid waste

Yoshida, Kazuo; Tamaki, Hitoshi; Hiyama, Mina*

JAEA-Research 2023-001, 26 Pages, 2023/05

JAEA-Research-2023-001.pdf:1.61MB

An accident of evaporation to dryness by boiling of high-level radioactive liquid waste (HLLW) is postulated as one of the severe accidents caused by the loss of cooling function at a fuel reprocessing plant. In this case, volatile radioactive materials, such as ruthenium (Ru) are released from the tanks with water and nitric-acid mixed vapor into the atmosphere. Accurate quantitative estimation of released Ru is one of the important issues for risk assessment of those facilities. To resolve this issue, an analytical approach has been developed using computer simulation programs to assess the radioactive source term from those facilities. The proposed approach consists analyses with three computer programs. At first, the simulation of boiling behavior in the HLLW tank is conducted with SHAWED code. Next step, the thermal-hydraulic behavior in the facility building is simulated with MELCOR code based on the results at the first step simulation such as flowed out mixed steam flow rate, temperature and volatilized Ru from the tank. The final analysis step is carried out for estimating amount of released radioactive materials with SCHERN computer code which simulates chemical behaviors of nitric acid, nitrogen oxide and Ru based on the condition also simulated MELCOR. Series of sample simulations of the accident at a hypothetical typical facility are presented with the data transfer between those codes in this report.

A New application technique of a position-sensitive liquid light guide Cerenkov counter for the simultaneous position detection of Sr/Y and Cs radioactivity

Terasaka, Yuta; Uritani, Akira*

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 1049, p.168071_1 - 168071_7, 2023/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2023.168071

Development of rapid and sensitive radionuclide analysis method by simultaneous analysis of , , and X-rays (Contract research); FY2021 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Japan Chemical Analysis Center*

JAEA-Review 2022-037, 118 Pages, 2023/01

JAEA-Review-2022-037.pdf:6.92MB

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 FY2021. 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 FY2020, this report summarizes the research results of the "Development of rapid and sensitive radionuclide analysis method by simultaneous analysis of , , and X-rays" conducted in FY2021. The present study aims to enable rapid analysis of radionuclides in fuel debris and waste, we have established the latest measurement system, such as the multiple -ray detection methods, and the Spectral Determination Method (hereafter referred to "SDM") was developed. In the study, the -ray measuring device was installed, and the measurement system consisting of the Ge detector, CeBr detector, and NaI detector was completed in FY2021. In the SDM development, standard spectra of -ray singles, multiple -ray measurements, …

Investigation of adsorption mechanism of Mo(VI) by baker's yeast and applicability to the uranium liquid waste treatment process

Arai, Yoichi; Hasegawa, Kenta; Watanabe, So; Watanabe, Masayuki; Minowa, Kazuki*; Matsuura, Haruaki*; Hagura, Naoto*; Katsuki, Kenta*; Arai, Tsuyoshi*; Konishi, Yasuhiro*

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 9 Pages, 2023/00

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-023-09278-5

Measurement of fragments of a wall-impinging liquid jet in a shallow pool

Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Kaneko, Akiko*; Abe, Yutaka*

Proceedings of 12th Japan-Korea Symposium on Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics and Safety (NTHAS12) (Internet), 6 Pages, 2022/10

For safety evaluation of nuclear reactors in severe accidents, it is important to estimate physical quantities of fragments generated from the molten fuel jet, which falls in a pool and breaks up. The evaluation method has been developed for the behavior as liquid jet with hydrodynamic interaction including fuel coolant interaction (FCI). In case of a shallow pool assumed in ex-vessel, the molten fuel jet is assumed to behave as wall-impinging liquid jet and to form liquid film flow spreading on the floor with/without fragmentation. In our research, focusing on hydrodynamic interaction and the transient 3-dimensional spreading on the floor, we have developed the evaluation method by numerical simulation using the two-phase flow simulation code with interface tracking method (TPFIT) developed by JAEA and, the experimental method using the 3D-LIF method in liquid-liquid system for the validation data. In our previous studies, we investigated the wall-impinging liquid jet behavior with fragmentation and observed that the liquid film flow had some characteristic parts transiently. Since it indicates that the quantities change depending on the parts and affect the safety evaluation, it is important to measure the quantities of the fragments generated from each part. This paper explains the measurement of the physical quantities of the fragments generated from each part of the wall-impinging liquid jet in a shallow pool for the validation of the numerical simulation. We conducted an experiment with the 3D-LIF method and segmented the experimental data based on the fragmentation point over the liquid film flow using the dispersed phase tracking method, developed by JAEA. Then, we measured the diameter and amount of the fragments from the segmented experimental data and investigated their changing trend.

Overview of event progression of evaporation to dryness caused by boiling of high-level liquid waste in Reprocessing Facilities

Yamaguchi, Akinori*; Yokotsuka, Muneyuki*; Furuta, Masayo*; Kubota, Kazuo*; Fujine, Sachio*; Mori, Kenji*; Yoshida, Naoki; Amano, Yuki; Abe, Hitoshi

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai Wabun Rombunshi (Internet), 21(4), p.173 - 182, 2022/09

https://doi.org/10.3327/taesj.J21.021

Risk information obtained from probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of measures against severe accidents in nuclear facilities. The PRA methods used for reprocessing facilities are considered immature compared to those for nuclear power plants, and to make the methods mature, reducing the uncertainty of accident scenarios becomes crucial. In this paper, we summarized the results of literature survey on the event progression of evaporation to dryness caused by boiling of high-level liquid waste (HLLW) which is a severe accident in reprocessing facilities and migration behavior of associated radioactive materials. Since one of the important characteristics of Ru is its tendency to form volatile compounds over the course of the event progression, the migration behavior of Ru is categorized into four stages based on temperature. Although no Ru has been released in the waste in the high temperature region, other volatile elements such as Cs could be released. Sufficient experimental data, however, have not been obtained yet. It is, therefore, necessary to further clarify the migration behavior of radioactive materials that predominantly depends on temperature in this region.