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.

Unique magnetic transition process demonstrating the effectiveness of bond percolation theory in a quantum magnet

Zheng, X.-G.*; Yamauchi, Ichihiro*; Hagihara, Masato; Nishibori, Eiji*; Kawae, Tatsuya*; Watanabe, Isao*; Uchiyama, Tomoki*; Chen, Y.*; Xu, C.-N.*

Nature Communications (Internet), 15, p.9989_1 - 9989_12, 2024/11

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54335-6

Characterization of nitrided SiC(100) MOS structures by means of electrical measurements and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Kobayashi, Takuma*; Suzuki, Asato*; Nakanuma, Takato*; Sometani, Mitsuru*; Okamoto, Mitsuo*; Yoshigoe, Akitaka; Shimura, Takayoshi*; Watanabe, Heiji*

Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing, 175, p.108251_1 - 108251_7, 2024/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mssp.2024.108251

Non-stoichiometric -base GdO precipitations in a Mg-Zn-Gd alloy

Ito, Yuto*; Egusa, Daisuke*; Yamaguchi, Masatake; Abe, Eiji*

Materials Transactions, 64(8), p.2022 - 2025, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.MT-M2023068

We have found that, during scanning transmission electron microscopy observations, heating of a MgZnGd (at.%) alloy at 623K leads to dynamic precipitations of face-centered-cubic ()-based Gd nanoparticles. With the aid of density-functional theory (DFT) calculations, the observed lattice constant of 5.32, which is larger than that expected for pure -Gd of 5.06, is likely to be due to oxygen atoms inserted at tetrahedral interstitial sites with essentially a fractional occupation. Systematic DFT calculations show possible occurrences of -Gd-based oxide phase with a wide non-stoichiometry range by occupying either tetrahedral or octahedral interstitial positions, being represented as GdO.

Formation of high-quality SiO/GaN interfaces with suppressed Ga-oxide interlayer via sputter deposition of SiO

Onishi, Kentaro*; Kobayashi, Takuma*; Mizobata, Hidetoshi*; Nozaki, Mikito*; Yoshigoe, Akitaka; Shimura, Takayoshi*; Watanabe, Heiji*

Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 62(5), p.050903_1 - 050903_4, 2023/05

https://doi.org/10.35848/1347-4065/acd1ca

While the formation of an GaO interlayer is key to achieving SiO/GaN interfaces with low defect density, it can affect the reliability and stability of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) devices if the annealing conditions are not properly designed. In the present study, we aimed to minimize the growth of the GaO layer on the basis of the sputter deposition of SiO on GaN. Synchrotron radiation X-ray photoelectron spectrometry measurements confirmed the suppressed growth of the GaO layer compared with a SiO/GaN structure formed by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Negligible GaO growth was also observed when subsequent oxygen annealing up to 600C was performed. A MOS device with negligible capacitance-voltage hysteresis, nearly ideal flat-band voltage, and low leakage current was demonstrated by performing oxygen and forming gas annealing at temperatures of 600C and 400C, respectively.

Anomalous local lattice softening around kink boundaries in a mille-feuille structured dilute Mg-Zn-Y Alloy

Urakawa, Yutaka*; Egusa, Daisuke*; Itakura, Mitsuhiro; Abe, Eiji*

Materials Transactions, 64(5), p.1065 - 1071, 2023/05

https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.MT-MD2022021

Annual report on the environmental radiation monitoring around the Tokai Reprocessing Plant FY2021

Nakada, Akira; Kanai, Katsuta; Seya, Natsumi; Nishimura, Shusaku; Futagawa, Kazuo; Nemoto, Masashi; Tobita, Keiji; Yamada, Ryohei*; Uchiyama, Rei; Yamashita, Daichi; et al.

JAEA-Review 2022-078, 164 Pages, 2023/03

JAEA-Review-2022-078.pdf:2.64MB

Environmental radiation monitoring around the Tokai Reprocessing Plant has been performed by the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories, based on "Safety Regulations for the Reprocessing Plant of Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Chapter IV - Environmental Monitoring". This annual report presents the results of the environmental monitoring and the dose estimation to the hypothetical inhabitant due to the radioactivity discharged from the plant to the atmosphere and the sea during April 2021 to March 2022. In this report, some data include the influence of the accidental release from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (the trade name was changed to Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. on April 1, 2016) in March 2011. Appendices present comprehensive information, such as monitoring programs, monitoring methods, monitoring results and their trends, meteorological data and discharged radioactive wastes. In addition, the data which were influenced by the accidental release and exceeded the normal range of fluctuation in the monitoring, were evaluated.

Research plan on geosphere stability for long-term isolation of radioactive waste (Scientific program for fiscal year 2022)

Sasao, Eiji; Ishimaru, Tsuneari; Niwa, Masakazu; Shimada, Akiomi; Shimada, Koji; Watanabe, Takahiro; Sueoka, Shigeru; Yokoyama, Tatsunori; Fujita, Natsuko; Ogita, Yasuhiro; et al.

JAEA-Review 2022-022, 29 Pages, 2022/09

JAEA-Review-2022-022.pdf:0.97MB

This report is a plan of research and development (R&D) on geosphere stability for long-term isolation of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), in fiscal year 2022. The objectives and contents in fiscal year 2022 are described in detail based on the JAEA 4th Medium- and Long-term Plan (fiscal years 2022-2028). In addition, the background of this research is described from the necessity and the significance for site investigation and safety assessment, and the past progress. The plan framework is structured into the following categories: (1) Development and systematization of investigation techniques, (2) Development of models for long-term estimation and effective assessment, (3) Development of dating techniques

Database for corrosion under irradiation

Sato, Tomonori; Hata, Kuniki; Kaji, Yoshiyuki; Taguchi, Mitsumasa*; Seito, Hajime*; Inoue, Hiroyuki*; Tada, Eiji*; Abe, Hiroshi*; Akiyama, Eiji*; Suzuki, Shunichi*

Isotope News, (782), p.40 - 44, 2022/08

https://www.jrias.or.jp/pdf/2208_TRACER_SATO_HOKA.pdf

The stagnant water in the reactor building at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F) is exposed to the radiation from fuel debris and radioactive species. This water contains much amounts of impurities from the seawater which was injected in the emergency cooling. The impurities will affect the radiolysis and corrosive conditions in the water under irradiation. So, the water radiolysis data, corrosion data of steels under irradiations, and the evaluated potential impacts of corrosion in the decommissioning process of 1F are arranged as the database for corrosion under irradiation. This paper introduces the outline of this database.

Impact of post-nitridation annealing in CO ambient on threshold voltage stability in 4H-SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors

Hosoi, Takuji*; Osako, Momoe*; Moges, K.*; Ito, Koji*; Kimoto, Tsunenobu*; Sometani, Mitsuru*; Okamoto, Mitsuo*; Yoshigoe, Akitaka; Shimura, Takayoshi*; Watanabe, Heiji*

Applied Physics Express, 15(6), p.061003_1 - 061003_5, 2022/06

https://doi.org/10.35848/1882-0786/ac6f42

The combination of NO annealing and subsequent post-nitridation annealing (PNA) in CO ambient for SiO/SiC structures has been demonstrated to be effective in obtaining both high channel mobility and superior threshold voltage stability in SiC-based metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). N atoms on the SiO side of the SiO/SiC interface incorporated by NO annealing, which are plausible cause of charge trapping sites, could be selectively removed by CO-PNA at 1300C without oxidizing the SiC. CO-PNA was also effective in compensating oxygen vacancies in SiO, resulting high immunity against both positive and negative bias-temperature stresses.