An X-ray and neutron scattering study of aqueous MgCl solution in the gigapascal pressure range

Yamaguchi, Toshio*; Fukuyama, Nami*; Yoshida, Koji*; Katayama, Yoshinori*; Machida, Shinichi*; Hattori, Takanori

Liquids, 3(3), p.288 - 302, 2023/09

https://doi.org/10.3390/liquids3030019

We report the structure of an aqueous 2 mol/kg MgCl solution at pressures from 0.1 MPa to 4 GPa and temperatures from 300 to 500 K revealed by X-ray and neutron scattering measurements. The scattering data are analyzed by empirical potential structure refinement (EPSR) modeling to derive the pair distribution functions, coordination number distributions, angle distributions, and spatial density functions as a function of pressure and temperature. Mg forms rigid solvation shells extended to the third shell; the first solvation shell of six-fold octahedral coordination with about six water molecules at 0 GPa transforms into about five water molecules and one Cl due to the formation of the contact ion pairs in the GPa pressure range. The Cl solvation shows a substantial pressure dependence; the coordination number of a water oxygen atom around Cl increases from 8 at 0.1 MPa/300 K to 10 at 4 GPa/500 K. The solvent water transforms the tetrahedral network structure at 0.1 MPa/300 K to a densely packed structure in the GPa pressure range; the number of water oxygen atoms around a central water molecule gradually increases from 4.6 at 0.1 MPa/298 K to 8.4 at 4 GPa/500 K.

Study on eutectic melting behavior of control rod materials in core disruptive accidents of sodium-cooled fast reactors, 1; Project overview and progress until 2020

Yamano, Hidemasa; Takai, Toshihide; Emura, Yuki; Fukuyama, Hiroyuki*; Higashi, Hideo*; Nishi, Tsuyoshi*; Ota, Hiromichi*; Morita, Koji*; Nakamura, Kinya*; Fukai, Hirofumi*; et al.

Proceedings of 13th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics, Operation and Safety (NUTHOS-13) (Internet), 12 Pages, 2022/09

This paper describes the project overview and progress of experimental and analytical studies conducted until 2020. Specific results in this paper are the measurement of the eutectic reaction rates and the validation of physical model describing the eutectic reaction in the analysis code through the numerical analysis of the BC-SS eutectic reaction rate experiments in which a BC pellet was placed in a SS crucible.

Study on eutectic melting behavior of control rod materials in core disruptive accidents of sodium-cooled fast reactors, 1; Project overview and progress until 2019

Yamano, Hidemasa; Takai, Toshihide; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Kikuchi, Shin; Emura, Yuki; Kamiyama, Kenji; Fukuyama, Hiroyuki*; Higashi, Hideo*; Nishi, Tsuyoshi*; Ota, Hiromichi*; et al.

Proceedings of 28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 28) (Internet), 11 Pages, 2021/08

https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE28-63301

One of the key issues in a core disruptive accident (CDA) evaluation in sodium-cooled fast reactors is eutectic reactions between boron carbide (BC) and stainless steel (SS) as well as its relocation. Such behaviors have never been simulated in CDA numerical analyses in the past, therefore it is necessary to develop a physical model and incorporate the model into the CDA analysis code. This study focuses on BC-SS eutectic melting experiments, thermophysical property measurement of the eutectic melt, and physical model development for the eutectic melting reaction. The eutectic experiments involve the visualization experiments, eutectic reaction rate experiments and material analyses. The thermophysical properties are measured in a range from solid to liquid state. The physical model is developed for a CDA computer code based on the measured data of the eutectic reaction rate and the physical properties. This paper describes the project overview and progress of experimental and analytical studies conducted until 2019. Specific results in this paper are the validation of physical model describing BC-SS eutectic reaction in the CDA analysis code, SIMMER-III, through the numerical analysis of the BC-SS eutectic melting experiments in which a BC block was placed in a SS pool.

Analysis of glass behavior of LuFeO with distributed equivalent circuit model

Fukada, Yukimasa*; Fukuyama, Ryota*; Fujiwara, Kosuke*; Yoshii, Kenji; Shigematsu, Kei*; Azuma, Masaki*; Ikeda, Naoshi*

Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 90(2), p.024710_1 - 024710_6, 2021/02

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSJ.90.024710

We report an analysis of the dielectric glasslike state of the spin- and charge-ordered system LuFeO, which has structural and physical properties analogous to those of the electronic ferroelectrics FeO (: rare earth). Aging and memory effects of resistivity were found in the electric impedance response. We performed a numerical analysis with equivalent electric circuits that have a logarithmic Gaussian distribution of resistance and capacitance. The distribution parameters well explained the glassy nature of the electric and dielectric properties between 100 and 200 K and the distribution variations of charge- and magnetic-ordered domains underlying the glass nature.

Study on eutectic melting behavior of control rod materials in core disruptive accidents of sodium-cooled fast reactors, 1; Project overview

Yamano, Hidemasa; Takai, Toshihide; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Kikuchi, Shin; Emura, Yuki; Kamiyama, Kenji; Fukuyama, Hiroyuki*; Higashi, Hideo*; Nishi, Tsuyoshi*; Ota, Hiromichi*; et al.

Proceedings of International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference / Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance Conference (Global/Top Fuel 2019) (USB Flash Drive), p.418 - 427, 2019/09

Eutectic reactions between boron carbide (BC) and stainless steel (SS) as well as its relocation are one of the key issues in a core disruptive accident (CDA) evaluation in sodium-cooled fast reactors. Since such behaviors have never been simulated in CDA numerical analyses, it is necessary to develop a physical model and incorporate the model into the CDA analysis code. This study is focusing on BC-SS eutectic melting experiments, thermophysical property measurement of the eutectic melt, and physical model development for the eutectic melting reaction. The eutectic experiments involve the visualization experiments, eutectic reaction rate experiments and material analyses. The thermophysical properties are measured in the range from solid to liquid state. The physical model is developed for a severe accident computer code based on the measured data of the eutectic reaction rate and the physical properties. This paper describes the project overview and progress of experimental and analytical studies by 2017. Specific results in this paper is boron concentration distributions of solidified BC-SS eutectic sample in the eutectic melting experiments, which would be used for the validation of the eutectic physical model implemented into the computer code.

Insights into the proton transfer mechanism of a bilin reductase PcyA following neutron crystallography

Unno, Masayoshi*; Ishikawa, Kumiko*; Kusaka, Katsuhiro*; Tamada, Taro; Hagiwara, Yoshinori*; Sugishima, Masakazu*; Wada, Kei*; Yamada, Taro*; Tomoyori, Katsuaki; Hosoya, Takaaki*; et al.

Journal of the American Chemical Society, 137(16), p.5452 - 5460, 2015/04

https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5b00645

Phycocyanobilin, a light-harvesting and photoreceptor pigment in higher plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, is synthesized from biliverdin IX (BV) by phycocyanobilin:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PcyA) via two steps of two-proton-coupled two-electron reduction. We determined the neutron structure of PcyA from cyanobacteria complexed with BV, revealing the exact location of the hydrogen atoms involved in catalysis. Notably, approximately half of the BV bound to PcyA was BVH, a state in which all four pyrrole nitrogen atoms were protonated. The protonation states of BV complemented the protonation of adjacent Asp105. The "axial "water molecule that interacts with the neutral pyrrole nitrogen of the A-ring was identified. His88 N was protonated to form a hydrogen bond with the lactam O atom of the BV A-ring. His88 and His74 were linked by hydrogen bonds via HO. These results imply that Asp105, His88, and the axial water molecule contribute to proton transfer during PcyA catalysis.

Model validation and integrated modelling simulations for the JT-60SA tokamak

Giruzzi, G.*; Garcia, J.*; Hayashi, Nobuhiko; Schneider, M.*; Artaud, J. F.*; Baruzzo, M.*; Bolzonella, T.*; Farina, D.*; Figini, L.*; Fujita, Takaaki; et al.

Proceedings of 24th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (FEC 2012) (CD-ROM), 8 Pages, 2013/03

http://www-naweb.iaea.org/napc/physics/FEC/FEC2012/papers/34_THP203.pdf

High-resolution Compton cameras based on Si/CdTe double-sided strip detectors

Odaka, Hirokazu*; Ichinohe, Yuto*; Takeda, Shinichiro*; Fukuyama, Taro*; Hagino, Koichi*; Saito, Shinya*; Sato, Tamotsu*; Sato, Goro*; Watanabe, Shin*; Kokubun, Motohide*; et al.

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 695, p.179 - 183, 2012/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2011.12.061

We have developed a new Si/CdTe semiconductor double-sided strip detector (DSD) Compton camera. The camera consists of a 500-m-thick Si-DSD and four layers of 750-m-thick CdTe-DSDs all of which have common electrode configuration segmented into 128 strips on each side with pitches of 250m. In order to realize high angular resolution and to reduce size of the detector system, a stack of DSDs with short stack pitches of 4 mm is utilized to make the camera. Taking advantage of the excellent energy and position resolutions of the semiconductor devices, the camera achieves high angular resolutions of 4.5 degrees at 356 keV and 3.5 degrees at 662 keV. To obtain such high resolutions together with an acceptable detection efficiency, we demonstrate data reduction methods including energy calibration using Compton scattering continuum and depth sensing in the CdTe-DSD. We also discuss imaging capability of the camera and show simultaneous multi-energy imaging.

Applications and imaging techniques of a Si/CdTe Compton -ray camera

Takeda, Shinichiro*; Ichinohe, Yuto*; Hagino, Koichi*; Odaka, Hirokazu*; Yuasa, Takayuki*; Ishikawa, Shinnosuke*; Fukuyama, Taro*; Saito, Shinya*; Sato, Tamotsu*; Sato, Goro*; et al.

Physics Procedia, 37, p.859 - 866, 2012/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phpro.2012.04.096

By using new Compton camera consisting of silicon double-sided strip detector (Si-DSD) and CdTe-DSD developed for the ASTRO-H mission, an experiment was conducted to study its feasibility for advanced hotspot monitoring. In addition to hotspot imaging already provided by commercial imaging systems, the identification of the variety of radioisotopes is realized thanks to the good energy resolution given by the semiconductor detectors. Three radioisotopes of Ba (356 keV), Na (511 keV) and Cs (662 keV) were individually imaged by applying event selection in the energy window and the -ray images was correctly overlapped by an optical picture. The detection efficiency of 1.6810 (effective area: 1.710 cm) and angular resolution of 3.8 were obtained by stacking five detector modules for 662 keV -ray. The higher detection efficiency required in a specific use can be achieved by stacking more detector modules.

Exchange bias in multiferroic FeO (=Y, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu and In)

Yoshii, Kenji; Ikeda, Naoshi*; Nishihata, Yasuo; Maeda, Daisuke*; Fukuyama, Ryota*; Nagata, Tomoko*; Kano, Jun*; Kambe, Takashi*; Horibe, Yoichi*; Mori, Shigeo*

Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 81(3), p.033704_1 - 033704_4, 2012/03

https://doi.org/10.1143/JPSJ.81.033704

Exchange bias (EB) behavior has been observed for multiferroic FeO (=Y, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu and In). The materials with the small ions (=Tm, Yb, Lu and In) exhibit large EB fields ( 1 kOe) below 100-150 K. This property is rooted in a magnetically glassy state, arising from the competition between ferro- and antiferromagnetic domain interactions. In addition, the exchange bias field tends to be more enhanced for smaller ions. Hence, the EB is controlled by the substitution at the -site in this series.