Evaluation report for sludge measurement by nondestructive assay (Plutonium Scrap Multiplicity Counter)(Joint research)

Tanigawa, Masafumi; Seya, Kazuhito*; Asakawa, Naoya*; Hayashi, Hiroyuki*; Horigome, Kazushi; Mukai, Yasunobu; Kitao, Takahiko; Nakamura, Hironobu; Henzlova, D.*; Swinhoe, M. T.*; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2024-014, 63 Pages, 2025/02

JAEA-Technology-2024-014.pdf:3.02MB

The liquid waste treatment process generated sludge items at the plutonium conversion development facility. They are highly heterogeneous and contain large amounts of impurities (Na, Fe, Ni etc.). Therefore, the sludge items have very large sampling uncertainty and so the total measurement uncertainty is very large (approximately 24%). The plutonium scrap multiplicity counter (PSMC) measurement technique for sludge items was developed by joint research between the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The technical validity for sludge items using the PSMC was evaluated using various types of sample measurements and Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code calculations. The PSMC measurement parameters were found to be valid for use with sludge items and the validity of multiplicity analysis was confirmed and demonstrated through comparisons with standard MOX powder and a standard sludge. As a result, the PSMC measurement values were shown to be consistent and reasonable and the large amount of impurity (Fe, Ni etc.) did not impact the results. Therefore, the measurement uncertainty of the improved nuclear material accountancy (NMA) procedure by combined PSMC and high-resolution gamma spectrometry was shown to be 6.5%. In addition, an acceptance test was conducted using PSMC/HRGS and IAEA benchmark equipment. Measured Pu mass by both equipment agrees within the measurement uncertainty of each method, and so the validity for Pu mass measurement by PSMC/HRGS was confirmed. The above results confirm the applicability of PSMC/HRGS as an additional NMA method for sludge and a newly designed NDA procedure based on this study is applied to sludge for NMA in PCDF.

Ga K-edge XANES study of Ga-exchanged zeolites at high temperatures under different atmospheres including vacuum, CO, and pressurized H

Huang, M.*; Kinjo, Tetsuya*; Yasumura, Shunsaku*; Toyao, Takashi*; Matsumura, Daiju; Saito, Hiroyuki*; Shimizu, Kenichi*; Namiki, Norikazu*; Maeno, Zen*

Catalysis Science & Technology, 13(23), p.6832 - 6838, 2023/12

https://doi.org/10.1039/D3CY01250F

Physical property investigation of gloves for glove boxes in nuclear fuel reprocessing plants; Physical properties of used gloves and estimation of its life-time

Yamamoto, Masahiko; Nishida, Naoki; Kobayashi, Daisuke; Nemoto, Ryo*; Hayashi, Hiroyuki*; Kitao, Takahiko; Kuno, Takehiko

JAEA-Technology 2023-004, 30 Pages, 2023/06

JAEA-Technology-2023-004.pdf:1.94MB

Glove-box gloves, that are used for handling nuclear fuel materials at the Tokai Reprocessing Plant (TRP) of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, have an expiration date by internal rules. All gloves are replaced at a maximum of every 4-year. However, degrees of glove deterioration varies depending on its usage environment such as frequency, chemicals, and radiation dose. Therefore, physical properties such as tensile strength, elongation, hardness of gloves are measured and technical evaluation method for the glove life-time is established. It was found that gloves without any defects in its appearance have enough physical properties and satisfies the acceptance criteria values of new gloves. Thus, it was considered that the expired gloves could be used for total of 8-year, by adding 4-year of new glove life-time. In addition, the results of extrapolation by plotting the glove's physical properties versus the used years showed that the physical properties at 8-year is on the safer side than the reported physical properties of broken glove. Also, the data are not significantly different from the physical properties of the long-term storage glove (8 and 23 years). Based on these results, life-time of gloves at TRP is set to be 8-year. The frequency of glove inspections are not changed, and if any defects is found, the glove is promptly replaced. Thus, the risk related to glove usage is not increased. The cost of purchasing gloves, labor for glove replacement, and the amount of generated waste can be reduced by approximately 40%, respectively, resulting in more efficient and rationalized glove management.

Nuclear criticality benchmark analyses on TRIGA-type reactor systems by using continuous-energy Monte Carlo code MVP with JENDL-5

Yanagisawa, Hiroshi; Umeda, Miki; Motome, Yuiko; Murao, Hiroyuki

JAEA-Technology 2022-030, 80 Pages, 2023/02

JAEA-Technology-2022-030.pdf:2.57MB
JAEA-Technology-2022-030(errata).pdf:0.11MB

Nuclear criticality benchmark analyses were carried out for TRIGA-type reactor systems in which uranium-zirconium hydride fuel rods are loaded by using the continuous-energy Monte Carlo code MVP with the evaluated nuclear data library JENDL-5. The analyses cover two sorts of benchmark data, the IEU-COMP-THERM-003 and IEU-COMP-THERM-013 in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) Handbook, and effective neutron multiplication factors, reactivity worths for control rods etc. were calculated by JENDL-5 in comparison with those by the previous version of JENDL. As the results, it was confirmed that the effective neutron multiplication factors obtained by JENDL-5 were 0.4 to 0.6% greater than those by JENDL-4.0, and that there were no significant differences in the calculated reactivity worths by between JENDL-5 and JENDL-4.0. Those results are considered to be helpful for the confirmation of calculation accuracy in the analyses on NSRR control rod worths, which are planned in the future.

Investigation of physical properties of glove for glove-box and estimation of its life-time

Kobayashi, Daisuke; Yamamoto, Masahiko; Nishida, Naoki; Miyoshi, Ryuta; Nemoto, Ryo*; Hayashi, Hiroyuki*; Kato, Keisuke; Nishino, Saki; Kuno, Takehiko; Kitao, Takahiko; et al.

Nihon Hozen Gakkai Dai-18-Kai Gakujutsu Koenkai Yoshishu, p.237 - 240, 2022/07

All gloves attached to glove-box in Tokai Reprocessing Plant have a fixed expiration date and have to be replaced every 4-year. However, degrees of glove deterioration are different depending on its usage environment (frequency, chemicals, radiation, etc.), because of rubber products. Therefore, physical properties such as tensile strength, elongation, hardness of gloves are measured, and the life-time of gloves are estimated. As a result, gloves without any defects in its appearance have enough physical property for acceptance criteria of new glove. The extrapolated physical property of glove is sufficiently larger than the reported values of damaged glove. No deterioration in physical properties of gloves, that are periodically replaced without any defects in its appearance, is observed and the usable life-time of the glove is estimated to be 8 years.

The Fe(n,)Fe cross section from the surrogate ratio method and its effect on the Fe nucleosynthesis

Yan, S. Q.*; Li, X. Y.*; Nishio, Katsuhisa; Lugaro, M.*; Li, Z. H.*; Makii, Hiroyuki; Pignatari, M.*; Wang, Y. B.*; Orlandi, R.; Hirose, Kentaro; et al.

Astrophysical Journal, 919(2), p.84_1 - 84_7, 2021/10

https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac12ce

Study of identification method by the reaction for a scattering experiment at J-PARC

Sakao, Tamao*; Fujita, Manami; Hasegawa, Shoichi; Hosomi, Kenji; Ichikawa, Masaya; Ichikawa, Yudai; Imai, Kenichi*; Nanamura, Takuya; Naruki, Megumi; Sako, Hiroyuki; et al.

JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 33, p.011133_1 - 011133_6, 2021/03

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSCP.33.011133

Evaluation of radiation effects on residents living around the NSRR under external hazards

Motome, Yuiko; Akiyama, Yoshiya; Murao, Hiroyuki

Journal of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science, 6(2), p.021115_1 - 021115_11, 2020/04

https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4045075

The nuclear safety research reactor (NSRR) is a research reactor of training research isotopes general atomics -annular core pulse reactor type. The NSRR facility has been utilized for fuel irradiation experiments to study the behaviors of nuclear fuels under reactivity-initiated accident conditions. Under the new regulation standards, which was established after the Fukushima Daiichi accident, research reactors are regulated based on the risk of the facilities. To apply the graded approach, the radiation effects on residents living around the NSRR under the external hazards were evaluated, and the level of the risk of the NSRR facility was investigated. This paper summarizes the result of the evaluation in the case where the safety functions are lost due to a tornado, an earthquake followed by a tsunami. All in all, the risk is confirmed to be relatively low, since the effective dose on the residents is found to be below 5 mSv per event due to the loss of the safety functions.

Coexisting spin resonance and long-range magnetic order of Eu in EuRbFeAs

Iida, Kazuki*; Nagai, Yuki; Ishida, Shigeyuki*; Ishikado, Motoyuki*; Murai, Naoki; Christianson, A. D.*; Yoshida, Hiroyuki*; Inamura, Yasuhiro; Nakamura, Hiroki; Nakao, Akiko*; et al.

Physical Review B, 100(1), p.014506_1 - 014506_8, 2019/07

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.100.014506

Magnetic excitations and magnetic structure of EuRbFeAs were investigated by neutron scattering measurements.

Security measures at nuclear fuel facilities, 2; Internal threat countermeasure in cyber-security

Kono, Soma; Yamada, Hiroyuki; Goto, Atsushi*; Yamazaki, Katsuyuki; Nakamura, Hironobu; Kitao, Takahiko

Nihon Kaku Busshitsu Kanri Gakkai Dai-39-Kai Nenji Taikai Rombunshu (Internet), 2 Pages, 2018/11

no abstracts in English