Annual report on the environmental radiation monitoring around the Tokai Reprocessing Plant FY2022

Kokubun, Yuji; Nakada, Akira; Seya, Natsumi; Koike, Yuko; Nemoto, Masashi; Tobita, Keiji; Yamada, Ryohei*; Uchiyama, Rei; Yamashita, Daichi; Nagai, Shinji; et al.

JAEA-Review 2023-046, 164 Pages, 2024/03

JAEA-Review-2023-046.pdf:4.2MB

The Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories conducts environmental radiation monitoring around the reprocessing plant in accordance with the "Safety Regulations for Reprocessing Plant of JAEA, Part IV: Environmental Monitoring". This report summarizes the results of environmental radiation monitoring conducted during the period from April 2022 to March 2023 and the results of dose calculations for the surrounding public due to the release of radioactive materials into the atmosphere and ocean. In the results of the above environmental radiation monitoring, many items were affected by radioactive materials emitted from the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant of Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated (changed to Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. on April 1, 2016), which occurred in March 2011. Also included as appendices are an overview of the environmental monitoring plan, an overview of measurement methods, measurement results and their changes over time, meteorological statistics results, radioactive waste release status, and an evaluation of the data which deviated of the normal range.

Neutron total and capture cross-section measurements of Gd and Gd in the thermal energy region with the Li-glass detectors and NaI(Tl) spectrometer installed in J-PARCMLFANNRI

Kimura, Atsushi; Nakamura, Shoji; Endo, Shunsuke; Rovira Leveroni, G.; Iwamoto, Osamu; Iwamoto, Nobuyuki; Harada, Hideo; Katabuchi, Tatsuya*; Terada, Kazushi*; Hori, Junichi*; et al.

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 60(6), p.678 - 696, 2023/06

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2022.2134224

Valence control of charge and orbital frustrated system YbFeO with electrochemical Li intercalation

Murase, Satoshi*; Yoshikawa, Yumi*; Fujiwara, Kosuke*; Fukada, Yukimasa*; Teranishi, Takashi*; Kano, Jun*; Fujii, Tatsuo*; Inada, Yasuhiro*; Katayama, Misaki*; Yoshii, Kenji; et al.

Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, 162, p.110468_1 - 110468_6, 2022/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpcs.2021.110468

We report a trial of the valence control for mixed valence iron triangular oxide YbFeO in order to develop an effective technique to control the frustration of charges in strongly correlated electron systems. The electro-chemical doping of Li into YbFeO was examined on the cell type sample similar to the Li-ion secondary battery cell. Systematic change of the lattice constant, Fe-Fe and Fe-Yb distance were observed with Li doping. Maximum value of the doping was over 300 mAh/g. An EXAFS experiment indicated that Li positioned between Yb octahedron layer (U-layer) and Fe-bipyramidal layer (W-layer). However, detailed change of iron valence state of YbFeO was not clearly observed because of the superimpose of the signal from iron metal nano particles in XANES observation. The results indicate that the electrochemical method might be one of the potential technique to control the frustration of charges in YbFeO.

Development of a supplementary outboard side thruster system for dynamic positioning control of autonomous surface vehicle

Kato, Tetsu*; Kawamura, Yamato*; Tahara, Junichiro*; Baba, Shoichiro*; Sanada, Yukihisa; Fujii, Shun*

International Journal of Offshore and Polar Engineering, 31(3), p.316 - 324, 2021/09

https://doi.org/10.17736/ijope.2021.jc825

The development of a side thruster system (vehicle (ASV)) that can maintain the direction of travel on the autonomous surface will be explained. Currently, we are working on a mud radioactivity survey in collaboration with Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, and Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. Deposited at the mouth of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the main purpose is to collect unmanned mud using ASV. The Mad Collection has developed a side thruster system and implemented it in ASV. We have confirmed the operation of the ASV with the joystick by using the thruster system for operating the ASV by one person using the joystick.

Annual report on the effluent control of low level liquid waste in Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories FY2019

Nakano, Masanao; Fujii, Tomoko; Nagaoka, Mika; Koike, Yuko; Yamada, Ryohei; Kubota, Tomohiro; Yoshii, Hideki*; Otani, Kazunori*; Hiyama, Yoshinori*; Kikuchi, Masaaki*; et al.

JAEA-Review 2020-070, 120 Pages, 2021/02

JAEA-Review-2020-070.pdf:2.47MB

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 control law, 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 2019. 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.

Development and operation of an electrostatic time-of-flight detector for the Rare RI storage Ring

Nagae, Daisuke*; Abe, Yasushi*; Okada, Shunsuke*; Omika, Shuichiro*; Wakayama, Kiyoshi*; Hosoi, Shun*; Suzuki, Shinji*; Moriguchi, Tetsuro*; Amano, Masamichi*; Kamioka, Daiki*; et al.

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 986, p.164713_1 - 164713_7, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2020.164713

Observation of morphological abnormalities in silkworm pupae after feeding CsCl-supplemented diet to evaluate the effects of low dose-rate exposure

Tanaka, Sota; Kinouchi, Tadatoshi*; Fujii, Tsuguru*; Imanaka, Tetsuji*; Takahashi, Tomoyuki*; Fukutani, Satoshi*; Maki, Daisuke*; Notomi, Akihiro*; Takahashi, Sentaro*

Scientific Reports (Internet), 10, p.16055_1 - 16055_7, 2020/09

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-72882-y

Since the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident, morphological abnormalities of the lepidopteran insects have been reported. However, it is unclear whether the abnormalities were caused directly by radiation because they did not study on absorbed dose and dose-effect relationship. In this study, we conducted an internal exposure experiment on silkworm using CsCl-supplemented artificial diet and estimated the absorbed dose to evaluate the morphological abnormalities in silkworm. The ratio of wing to whole body of pupae was compared between the CsCl-exposured and control groups and no significant differences were observed between the groups. This result suggest that morphological abnormalities in lepidopterans are unlikely due to direct radiation effects from Cs contamination after the FDNPP accident.

Measurement of cesium isotopic ratio by thermal ionization mass spectrometry for neutron capture reaction studies on Cs

Shibahara, Yuji*; Nakamura, Shoji; Uehara, Akihiro*; Fujii, Toshiyuki*; Fukutani, Satoshi*; Kimura, Atsushi; Iwamoto, Osamu

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 325(1), p.155 - 165, 2020/07

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-020-07198-2

The measurements of isotopic ratios of Cs samples by thermal ionization mass spectrometry were performed for the analysis of their samples used to evaluate nuclear data obtained for Cs. To obtain a high intensity and stable ion beam, the effects of additive agents on the ionization of Cs were examined. The effect of silicotungstic acid on the ionization of Cs was the largest among the additive agents studied in the present study, while the silicotungstic acid also showed the largest isobaric interference of polyatomic ions. It was demonstrated that as small as 210 g of a Cs sample was sufficient to achieve the analytical precision required to measure the Cs/Cs ratio in the case where an additive agent of TaO/glucose was employed. After examining of the analytical conditions, such as the interference effect due to Ba, the measurements of the isotopic ratios of two Cs samples used in our study using TIMS were conducted, and it was discussed how much the ratios contributed to evaluation of the neutron capture cross-section of Cs.

Measurements of thermal-neutron capture cross-section of cesium-135 by applying mass spectrometry

Nakamura, Shoji; Shibahara, Yuji*; Kimura, Atsushi; Iwamoto, Osamu; Uehara, Akihiro*; Fujii, Toshiyuki*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 57(4), p.388 - 400, 2020/04

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2019.1691077

The thermal-neutron capture cross-section () and resonance integral(I) were measured for the Cs(n,)Cs reaction by an activation method and mass spectrometry. We used Cs contained as an impurity in a normally available Cs standard solution. An isotope ratio of Cs and Cs in a standard Cs solution was measured by mass spectrometry to quantify Cs. The analyzed Cs samples were irradiated at the hydraulic conveyer of the research reactor in Institute for Integral Radiation and Nuclear Science, Kyoto University. Wires of Co/Al and Au/Al alloys were used as neutron monitors to measure thermal-neutron fluxes and epi-thermal Westcott's indices at an irradiation position. A gadolinium filter was used to measure the , and a value of 0.133 eV was taken as the cut-off energy. Gamma-ray spectroscopy was used to measure induced activities of Cs, Cs and monitor wires. On the basis of Westcott's convention, the and I values were derived as 8.570.25 barn, and 45.33.2 barn, respectively. The obtained in the present study agreed within the limits of uncertainties with the past reported value of 8.30.3 barn.

Annual report on the effluent control of low level liquid waste in Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories FY2018

Nakano, Masanao; Fujii, Tomoko; Nagaoka, Mika; Inoue, Kazumi; Koike, Yuko; Yamada, Ryohei; Yoshii, Hideki*; Otani, Kazunori*; Hiyama, Yoshinori*; Kikuchi, Masaaki*; et al.

JAEA-Review 2019-045, 120 Pages, 2020/03

JAEA-Review-2019-045.pdf:2.54MB

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 control law, 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 2018. 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.