Aerial monitoring around TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and development of radiation monitoring technology for unmanned vehicle in fiscal year 2024 (Contract research)

Futemma, Akira; Ochi, Kotaro; Sasaki, Miyuki; Nakama, Shigeo; Kawasaki, Yoshiharu*; Iwai, Takeyuki*; Hiraga, Shogo*; Haginoya, Masashi*; Matsunaga, Yuki*; Yamada, Tsutomu*; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2025-016, 253 Pages, 2026/03

JAEA-Technology-2025-016.pdf:20.16MB

Aerial Radiation Monitoring (ARM) has been used to quickly and widely measure radiation distribution caused by the TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) accident resulted from the tsunami accompanying the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake on March 11, 2011. Since the accident, As a commissioned project of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has continuously conducted ARM around FDNPS. This report summarizes the results of the 2024 monitoring activities, evaluates temporal changes in ambient dose rates, and identifies factors contributing to these changes. A terrain-corrected analysis was applied to improve dose rates conversion accuracy, and results with and without this correction were compared. A radon-progeny discrimination method was also used to assess its impact on manned-helicopter measurements. Furthermore, development of unmanned airplane monitoring technologies was advanced to enhance the efficiency of wide-area surveys.

2D iron oxide at the graphene/SiC(0001) interface

Sakakibara, Ryotaro*; Terasawa, Tomoo; Kawauchi, Taizo*; Fukutani, Katsuyuki; Ito, Takahiro*; Norimatsu, Wataru*

Small Methods, 12 Pages, 2026/00

https://doi.org/10.1002/smtd.202501889

Development of Hot-Thermocouple system for accurately controlling temperature with high degrees of freedom

Kimura, Rintaro*; Sumita, Takehiro*; Osawa, Takahito; Matsuno, Kota*; Nakashima, Kunihiko*; Saito, Noritaka*

Tetsu To Hagane, 111(15), p.955 - 962, 2025/11

https://doi.org/10.2355/tetsutohagane.TETSU-2025-034

This study developed a new system to address the maintenance challenges of conventional high-temperature thermocouple techniques. Utilizing LabVIEW, the system simplifies complex circuitry, allowing for high-precision and flexible temperature control with basic technical knowledge. Testing confirmed its reliability and ability to control complex temperature patterns. The system successfully created a TTT diagram for a specific material, and image analysis enabled objective, quantitative determination of crystallization timing. This new system offers a significant advancement in high-temperature observation and control.

Production of Cu and Cu with accelerator neutrons by deuterons and their separation from zinc

Nagai, Yasuki*; Kawabata, Masako*; Saeki, Hideya*; Motoishi, Shoji*; Hashimoto, Kazuyuki; Tsukada, Kazuaki; Motomura, Arata*; Ota, Akio*; Takashima, Naoki*; Hashimoto, Shintaro; et al.

Frontiers in Nuclear Medicine (Internet), 5, p.1657125_1 - 1657125_11, 2025/10

https://doi.org/10.3389/fnume.2025.1657125

In recent years, the radionuclide pair of Cu and Cu has attracted attention as an ideal theranostic agent. We proposed a novel production method utilizing a neutron source generated by deuteron beams at an accelerator facility. By irradiating enriched Zn samples with this neutron source, we measured the absolute activity and radionuclidic purity of the produced Cu. The results were consistent with calculations performed using PHITS and JENDL-5 developed by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, confirming the reliability of the calculation method and demonstrating its capability to estimate the yields of trace radionuclides that are difficult to measure experimentally. Furthermore, we successfully separated Cu from the irradiated Zn sample using our developed sublimation and column separation techniques. These findings suggest that the production of Cu and Cu can be achieved in an economically sustainable manner at multiple sites.

Evaluation of vortex gas entrainment phenomena

Ito, Kei*; Matsushita, Kentaro; Ezure, Toshiki; Tanaka, Masaaki; Odaira, Naoya*; Ito, Daisuke*; Saito, Yasushi*

Nihon Kikai Gakkai 2025-Nendo Nenji Taikai Koen Rombunshu (Internet), 5 Pages, 2025/09

The estimation of entrained gas flow rate by a bathtub vortex is important in terms of a possibility to causes the performance degradation when the entrained bubbles are mixed into fluid machineries, e.g. pumps. In this study, to confirm the applicability of a model based on circulating annular flow model proposed by the authors, entrained gas flow rate is evaluated using the liquid velocity distribution around free surface dent of vortex (gas core), obtained by CFD data. As a result, it was indicated that it would be possible to evaluate the gas entrainment flow rate by setting an appropriate evaluation region.

Compliance measures at the Radioactive Waste Treatment Facilities at the Nuclear Science Research Institute; Aseismic reinforcement of the Radioactive Waste Treatment Facility No. 3, Waste Size Reduction and Storage Facility, and Waste Volume Reduction Facility

Iketani, Shotaro; Suzuki, Takeshi; Yokobori, Tomohiko; Sugawara, Satoshi; Yokota, Akira; Kikuchi, Genta; Muraguchi, Yoshinori; Kitahara, Masaru; Seya, Manato; Kurosawa, Tsuyoshi; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2025-001, 169 Pages, 2025/08

JAEA-Technology-2025-001.pdf:14.22MB

The radioactive waste treatment facilities at the Nuclear Science Research Institute includes the Radioactive Waste Treatment Facility No. 3, Waste Size Reduction and Storage Facility, and Waste Volume Reduction Facility. These three facilities come under the purview of the Act on the Regulation of Nuclear Source Material, Nuclear Fuel Material and Reactors, and are included under Class C of the act based on the seismic requirements specified in the Act. We assessed the seismic capacity of these three radioactive waste treatment facilities based on the current Building Standards Act, to verify whether they comply with the new regulatory requirements enforced by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) in the aftermath of the 2011 nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company. We found that the allowable stress of a few structural members used in the construction of the facilities did not meet the regulatory requirements. After studying the approval granted by the NRA for the construction plans, including the design and construction methods (design and construction plans) of the three facilities on March 5, 2021, we made aseismic reinforcement at these facilities between 2021 and 2022. This report presents an overview of the seismic design of these facilities and an outline of the aseismic reinforcement conducted, management system existing, safety measures adopted, and the preoperational inspections conducted at these facilities.

Students Rising to the Challenge of Problem-Solving; Human Resource Development through the Creative Robotics Competition for Decommissioning

Ito, Rintaro

CROSS T&T, (80), p.48 - 52, 2025/06

The Decommissioning Robot Competition is a robot competition held for students at technical colleges nationwide to foster human resources who will be responsible for the future of decommissioning work at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and to stimulate interest in decommissioning technology. This paper introduces the efforts made so far in the Decommissioning Robot Competition.

Electronic approach to understand the wettability of surface treated titanium with liquid sodium

Namie, Masanari; Saito, Junichi; Oka, Ryotaro*; Kim, J.-H.*

Vacuum, 234, p.114038_1 - 114038_9, 2025/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vacuum.2025.114038

Outline of the activity report of the Emergency Monitoring Committee

Hosoda, Masahiro*; Omori, Yasutaka*; Orita, Makiko*; Saito, Kimiaki; Sanada, Tetsuya*; Takeda, Hikaru*; Tani, Kotaro*; Tsujiguchi, Takakiyo*; Hirao, Shigekazu*; Hokama, Tomonori; et al.

Hoken Butsuri (Internet), 59(4), p.206 - 207, 2024/12

https://doi.org/10.5453/jhps.59.206

no abstracts in English

Integrated radiation air dose rate maps over the 80 km radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and the entire Fukushima Prefecture during 2011-2022

Sakuma, Kazuyuki; Kurikami, Hiroshi; Wainwright, Haruko*; Tanimori, Soichiro*; Nagao, Fumiya; Ochi, Kotaro; Sanada, Yukihisa; Saito, Kimiaki

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 280, p.107554_1 - 107554_11, 2024/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107554

In this study, we created the integrated radiation air dose rate maps in the Fukushima region during 2011-2022 using multiple types of surveys such as air-borne, car-borne and walk surveys as well as fixed-location measurements. We applied the Bayesian geostatistical method developed by Wainwright et al. (2017, 2019) to the 80 km radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and the whole of Fukushima Prefecture while considering the history of the lifting of the evacuation zone in Fukushima. The integrated maps fixed the bias to underestimate air dose rates in forest areas, and successfully created more reproducible integrated maps with a wider area and time series than the previous studies. It is highly expected that the results of this study will be used to evaluate detailed exposure doses to the general public.