Improvement of aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometer for on-line measurement of tiny particles containing alpha emitters (Contract research); FY2021 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Osaka University*

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 (1F), 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 FY2021, this report summarizes the research results of the "Improvement of aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometer for on-line measurement of tiny particles containing alpha emitters" conducted in FY2021. The present study aims to improve Aerosol Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer in order to monitor tiny particles containing alpha emitters such as U and Pu generated in removing debris from the reactors of 1F. In FY2021, for improving mass-resolution, we designed the optimized structure of mass spectrometer with much better mass resolution and ion transmittance than commercial ATOFMS by a PC simulation. Further, design of a detection part of ATOFMS fitted to the mass spectrometer was completed.