Annual report on the effluent control of low level liquid waste in Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories FY2023

Kokubun, Yuji; Hosomi, Kenji; Seya, Natsumi; Nagaoka, Mika; Inoue, Kazumi; Koike, Yuko; Hasegawa, Ryo; Kubota, Tomohiro; Hirao, Moe; Iizawa, Shogo; et al.

JAEA-Review 2024-053, 116 Pages, 2025/03

JAEA-Review-2024-053.pdf:3.26MB

Based on the regulations (the safety regulation of Tokai Reprocessing Plant, the safety regulation of nuclear fuel material usage facilities, the radiation safety rule, the regulation about prevention from radiation hazards due to radioisotopes, which are related with the nuclear regulatory acts, the local agreement concerning with safety and environment conservation around nuclear facilities, the water pollution prevention act, and by law of Ibaraki Prefecture), the effluent control of liquid waste discharged from the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories of Japan Atomic Energy Agency has been performed. This report describes the effluent control results of the liquid waste in the fiscal year 2023. In this period, the concentrations and the quantities of the radioactivity in liquid waste discharged from the reprocessing plant, the plutonium fuel fabrication facilities, and the other nuclear fuel material usage facilities were much lower than the limits authorized by the above regulations.

Mechanistic origin of grain size and oxygen interstitial effects on strain-induced martensitic transformation in Ti-12Mo alloy

Chong, Y.*; Tsuru, Tomohito; Mitsuhara, Masatoshi*; Guo, B.*; Gholizadeh, R.*; Inoue, Koji*; Godfrey, A.*; Tsuji, Nobuhiro*

Communications Materials (Internet), 6, p.50_1 - 50_11, 2025/03

https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-025-00777-4

Strain-induced martensitic phase transformation (SIMT) critically affects the mechanical properties of metastable titanium alloys. In this study, the effects of grain size and oxygen content on SIMT in a Ti-12wt.%Mo alloy were systematically investigated. It is found that SIMT is promoted by a decrease in grain size and in oxygen content. The mechanistic origins of the anomalous grain size dependency and the acute oxygen content dependency of SIMT are discussed based on multi-scale microstructural characterization and state-of-the-art simulations. Grain refinement does not raise the energy barrier for SIMT but rather provides more nucleation sites for strain-induced martensite, thereby promoting SIMT in fine-grained Ti-12wt.%Mo alloy. In contrast, for the Ti-12wt.%Mo-0.3 wt.%O alloy, oxygen atoms substantially increase the energy barrier for SIMT, due to a change in the local configuration of oxygen atoms during the phase transformation. In addition, atom probe tomography reveals for the first time that oxygen atoms segregate at phase boundaries, thereby further restricting the growth of martensite.

Nanoconfinement-driven energy-efficient CO capture and release at high pressures on a unique large-pore mesoporous carbon

Szab, L.*; Inoue, Mizuki*; Sekine, Yurina; Motokawa, Ryuhei; Matsumoto, Yusuke*; Nge, T. T.*; Ismail, E.*; Ichinose, Izumi*; Yamada, Tatsuhiko*

ChemSusChem, p.e202402034_1 - e202402034_13, 2025/00

https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202402034

Here, we developed a large-pore mesoporous carbon with pore sizes centered around 20-30 nm using a templated technical lignin. During the soft-templating process, unique cylindrical supramolecular assemblies form from the copolymer template, distinct from other systems reported thus far. This peculiar nanostructuring takes place due to the presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG) segments on both the Pluronic template and the PEG- grafted lignin derivative (glycol lignin). A large increase in CO uptake occurs on the resulting large-pore mesoporous carbon at 270 K close to the saturation pressure, owing to capillary condensation.

Beryllium-7 depositions in Hokuriku, Japan in winter (1991-2021); Factors causing the temporal variation

Yoshida, Keisuke; Kato, Shingo; Okuyama, Shinichi; Ishimori, Yuu; Inoue, Mutsuo*

Journal of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences (Internet), 24, p.1 - 12, 2024/08

http://www.radiochem.org/en/paper/JN241/jn24102.pdf

Influence of MC carbides on pitting corrosion resistance of weld metal in austenitic stainless steels

Kadoi, Kota*; Kanno, Yudai*; Aoki, So; Inoue, Hiroshige*

ISIJ International, 64(9), p.1450 - 1456, 2024/07

https://doi.org/10.2355/isijinternational.ISIJINT-2024-067

The influence of the chemical composition on the pitting corrosion in the weld metal of austenitic stainless steel were investigated. The specimens containing higher content of chromium and molybdenum showed the lower the reactivation rate. The addition of titanium drastically deteriorated the pitting corrosion resistance. The chromium depleted region was formed near the carbide such as MC and TiC. Besides, TiC phase which formed during solidification acted as nucleation sites for MC precipitation. The depleted region caused by chromium diffusion because of the MC precipitation, induced to deteriorate the pitting corrosion resistance.

Water fraction dependence of the aggregation behavior of hydrophobic fluorescent solutes in water-tetrahydrofuran

Tsuji, Hayato*; Nakahata, Masaki*; Hishida, Mafumi*; Seto, Hideki*; Motokawa, Ryuhei; Inoue, Takeru*; Egawa, Yasunobu*

Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters (Internet), 14(49), p.11235 - 11241, 2023/12

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c02882

Interlaboratory comparison of electron paramagnetic resonance tooth enamel dosimetry with investigations of the dose responses of the standard samples

Toyoda, Shin*; Inoue, Kazuhiko*; Yamaguchi, Ichiro*; Hoshi, Masaharu*; Hirota, Seiko*; Oka, Toshitaka; Shimazaki, Tatsuya*; Mizuno, Hideyuki*; Tani, Atsushi*; Yasuda, Hiroshi*; et al.

Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 199(14), p.1557 - 1564, 2023/09

https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncad150

Interlaboratory comparison studies are important for radiation dosimetry in order to demonstrate how the technique is universally available. The set of standard samples are examined in each participating laboratory in the present study. After a set of standard samples together with the samples with unknown doses, which were prepared in the same laboratory as the standard samples, are measured at a participating laboratory, those samples are sent to another participating laboratory for next measurement. There is some small difference observed in the sensitivity (the slope of the dose response line) of the standard samples while the differences in the obtained doses for the samples with unknown doses are rather systematic, implying that the difference is mostly due to the samples but not to measurements.

Development of training course on non-destructive assay of nuclear material for Asian region, 2; Development of lectures and exercises on gamma-ray measurement

Yamamoto, Masahiko; Kono, Soma; Saegusa, Yu; Kuno, Takehiko; Sekine, Megumi; Inoue, Naoko; Noro, Naoko; Rodriguez, D.; Yamaguchi, Tomoki; Stinett, J.*

Proceedings of INMM & ESARDA Joint Annual Meeting 2023 (Internet), 10 Pages, 2023/05

The gamma-ray measurement part of the Non-Destructive Assay (NDA) course of safeguards and nuclear material accountancy was developed to focus on gamma-ray measurement allotting two days out of five days. The lectures on the basic characteristics and detection methods and mechanism of gamma-ray detectors were provided as e-learnings which were developed. The part for hands-on exercises were implemented in JAEA facility. Participants have set up each gamma-ray detector, and performed measurements of uranium and the other gamma-ray emitting nuclides. Also, uranium-235 enrichment measurements have been performed. In addition, the participants trained with a handheld gamma-ray spectrometer, HM-5, that is popular for IAEA safeguards as the preparation in the measurement exercise of fresh fuel assemblies in JRR-3, a research reactor facility of JAEA. This paper reports on the development, implementation, and feedback from participants on gamma-ray measurement part of the NDA course.

Confirmation of the sustainability of decontamination effects in public facilities and prediction of future air dose rates

Kusakabe, Kazuaki*; Watanabe, Masanori; Nishiuchi, Masashi*; Yamasaki, Takuhei*; Inoue, Hiromi*

Kankyo Hoshano Josen Gakkai-Shi, 11(1), p.15 - 23, 2023/03

The spread of radioactive materials caused by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident that occurred in March 2011 contaminated a wide area that includes Fukushima Prefecture. Although air dose rates in Fukushima Prefecture have been steadily decreasing because of decontamination and the physical decay of radioactive materials, it is important to confirm the sustainability of decontamination effects in living areas and to predict future trends in air dose rates to reassure residents who are concerned regarding radiation exposure. This report aims to confirm the sustainability of the decontamination effects in public facilities after decontamination on a continuous and detailed basis, and to verify whether the future transition in air dose rates can be predicted using existing model. The air dose rates in public facilities after decontamination were measured via fixed-point and walking surveys, and the changes in air dose rates were clarified quantitatively for each facility. The measured values were compared with values obtained using existing model, and prediction accuracy was considered. The results showed that there was no evident recontamination after decontamination at any of the surveyed facilities, indicating that the decontamination effects were sustained. It was also confirmed that future trends in air dose rates at the facilities after decontamination could be accurately predicted by existing model. Key words: air dose rate, decontamination, future prediction, public facilities.

None

Nagata, Shuhei*; Ogawa, Yusuke*; Suzuki, Satoru*; Inoue, Hiroyuki*; Watanabe, Yutaka*; Yamamoto, Masahiro*; Abe, Hiroshi*; Mitsui, Seiichiro

NUMO-TR-22-02, p.21 - 22, 2023/03

https://www.numo.or.jp/technology/technical_report/NUMO-TR-22-02.pdf

no abstracts in English