Field-based description of near-surface crustal deformation in a high-strain shear zone; A Case study in southern Kyushu, Japan

Niwa, Masakazu; Shimada, Koji; Terusawa, Shuji*; Goto, Akira*; Nishiyama, Nariaki; Nakajima, Toru; Ishihara, Takanori; Hakoiwa, Hiroaki

Island Arc, 33(1), p.e12516_1 - e12516_16, 2024/02

https://doi.org/10.1111/iar.12516

To investigate the geological evidence of near-surface crustal deformations in a high-strain shear zone that has been geodetically identified but not associated with clear tectonic landforms, a fieldwork was conducted in E-W trending southern Kyushu high-strain shear zone, Japan. According to our study, an investigation based on the slip data from minor faults and the occurrences of fracture zones could help to identify a concealed fault that is small in terms of size to record tectonic landforms but can trigger large earthquakes.

Formation of nanoscale protrusions on polymer films after atomic oxygen exposure; Observations with positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy

Goto, Aki*; Michishio, Koji*; Oka, Toshitaka; Tagawa, Masahito*; Yamashita, Shinichi*

Langmuir, 39(34), p.11954 - 11963, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c00224

Atomic oxygen (AO) is one of the dominant components of the residual atmosphere in low Earth orbit. AO collides with spacecraft with translational energy of 5 eV, forming nanoscale protrusions on polymeric materials. This study investigated the size of free-volume holes and the layer thickness that interacted with AO for polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS) by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy. By the AO irradiation, oxidized layer formed in the surface, and the maximum depth of the oxidized layer for PE and PP were deeper than for PS. The different sizes of free-volume holes would affect the injection depths of AO, resulting in the oxidized layers' thicknesses and surface morphologies.

A Study on convection in molten zone of aluminum alloy during Fe/Al resistance spot welding

Iyota, Muneyoshi*; Matsuda, Tomoki*; Sano, Tomokazu*; Shigeta, Masaya*; Shobu, Takahisa; Yumoto, Hirokatsu*; Koyama, Takahisa*; Yamazaki, Hiroshi*; Semba, Yasunori*; Ohashi, Haruhiko*; et al.

Journal of Manufacturing Processes, 94, p.424 - 434, 2023/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2023.03.032

Development of "MOX weighing and Ball-mill blending" based on experience in operation and maintenance of MOX fuel manufacturing equipment

Kawasaki, Kohei; Ono, Takanori; Shibanuma, Kimikazu; Goto, Kenta; Aita, Takahiro; Okamoto, Naritoshi; Shinada, Kenta; Ichige, Hidekazu; Takase, Tatsuya; Osaka, Yuki; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2022-031, 91 Pages, 2023/02

JAEA-Technology-2022-031.pdf:6.57MB

The document for back-end policy opened to the public in 2018 by Japan Atomic Energy Agency (hereafter, JAEA) states the decommissioning of facilities of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories and JAEA have started gathering up nuclear fuel material of the facilities into Plutonium Fuel Production Facilities (hereafter, PFPF) in order to put it long-term, stable and safe storage. Because we planned to manufacture scrap assemblies almost same with Monju fuel assembly using unsealed plutonium-uranium mixed-oxide (hereafter, MOX) powder held in PFPF and transfer them to storage facilities as part of this "concentration" task of nuclear fuel material, we obtained permission to change the use of nuclear fuel material in response to the new regulatory Requirements in Japan for that. The amount of plutonium (which is neither sintered pellets nor in a lidded powder-transport container) that could be handled in the pellet-manufacturing process was limited to 50 kg Pu or less in order to decrease the facility risk in this manufacture. Therefore, we developed and installed the "MOX weighing and blending equipment" corresponding with small batch sizes that functioned in a starting process and the equipment would decrease handling amounts of plutonium on its downstream processes. The failure data based on our operation and maintenance experiences of MOX fuel production facilities was reflected in the design of the equipment to further improve reliability and maintainability in this development. The completed equipment started its operation using MOX powder in February 2022 and the design has been validated through this half-a-year operation. This report organizes the knowledge obtained through the development of the equipment, the evaluation of the design based on the half-a-year operation results and the issues in future equipment development.

A GIS-based approach for geomorphological analysis of volcanic edifices to estimate latent magma plumbing system (Contract research)

Nishiyama, Nariaki; Goto, Akira*; Tsukahara, Yuzuko; Kawamura, Makoto; Umeda, Koji*; Niwa, Masakazu

JAEA-Testing 2022-003, 51 Pages, 2022/09

JAEA-Testing-2022-003.pdf:5.24MB
JAEA-Testing-2022-003-appendix(CD-ROM).zip:1.12MB

Advancement of the evaluation technology of the magma activity range is essential as one of the technical issues related to volcanic and igneous activities in the evaluation of the long-term stability of the geological environment in the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. As an effective method, topographical analysis of volcanic edifices is expected to be used to determine the distribution area of dikes. In recent years, the development of computer-based topographic analysis technology has made it possible to simply perform a large volume of work that would otherwise be difficult due to the manual handling. This report describes an analysis method for the shape of contour lines that forms volcanic edifices using GIS software.

Reactor physics experiment in a graphite moderation system for HTGR, 3

Fukaya, Yuji; Okita, Shoichiro; Kanda, Shun*; Goto, Masaki*; Nakajima, Kunihiro*; Sakon, Atsushi*; Sano, Tadafumi*; Hashimoto, Kengo*; Takahashi, Yoshiyuki*; Unesaki, Hironobu*

KURNS Progress Report 2021, P. 101, 2022/07

https://www.rri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/PUB/report/PR/ProgRep2021/ProgRep2021.html

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) started the Research and Development (R&D) to improve nuclear prediction techniques for High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors (HTGRs) in 2018. The objectives are to intro-duce the generalized bias factor method to avoid full mock-up experiment for the first commercial HTGR and to improve neutron instrumentation system by virtue of the particular characteristics due to a graphite moderation system. For this end, we composed B7/4"G2/8"p8EU(3)+3/8"p38EU in the B-rack of Kyoto University Critical Assembly (KUCA) in 2021.

Efficient detection of methane seepage using a vehicle-mounted cavity ring-down spectroscopy analyzer

Niwa, Masakazu; Shimo, Michito*; Shimada, Koji; Goto, Akira

JAEA-Research 2022-004, 38 Pages, 2022/06

JAEA-Research-2022-004.pdf:2.86MB
JAEA-Research-2022-004-appendix(CD-ROM).zip:0.41MB

Methane (CH) seepage to the surface in the early stage of hydrocarbon exploration has attracted increasing attention. Also, detection of CH-rich fluid emission can be applied to reconnaissance surveys for safety management in geological disposal of radioactive waste because high-temperature fluids that come from slab dehydration along a subduction zone are often rich in CH. These fluids likely migrate along faults and fractures. In this study, we employed a portable analyzer that used a wavelength-scanned cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) with high accuracy (in ppb levels) and short measurement intervals (1 s). An on-vehicle measurement that employed the CRDS system was performed in the Hongu area in southeast Kii Peninsula, Japan, which included CH-bearing hot springs (Kawayu and Yunomine). The measurement near the hot springs detected a clear CH anomaly (2 ppm) that exceeded the background concentration. The estimation of CH diffusion in air based on the Gaussian plume model corresponded to the result of the on-vehicle measurement. This study confirmed that the method using the vehicle-mounted CRDS analyzer can help in quickly and easily identifying CH-bearing fluid emissions at the surface. Additionally, directions for use of the analyzer were summarized in this report.

Design of a portable backup shutdown system for the high temperature gas cooled reactor

Hamamoto, Shimpei; Ho, H. Q.; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; Goto, Minoru; Shimazaki, Yosuke; Sawahata, Hiroaki; Ishitsuka, Etsuo

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 386, p.111564_1 - 111564_8, 2022/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2021.111564

The experience of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident caused by the great earthquake that occurred in eastern Japan in 2011 showed the importance of preparing for the loss of function of the engineered safety features. Increasing the strength of equipment to prevent loss of function in an accident is effective, but the possibility of loss of function remains. Therefore, it is important to have an alternative to lost functions in order to put the accident under control early. Thus, this study designed an alternative shutdown system, namely a portable backup shutdown system (PBSS), to make countermeasures in the event of a loss of shutdown function more robust without impairing economic efficiency of the High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR). The PBSS is portable and capable of being installed manually so that it can operate in a total loss of off-site electricity. Various neutron absorber materials for the PBSS were also considered from the viewpoints of technical and cost-effective properties. As results of optimization, the boron nitride (BN) was selected as it shows a good neutronic property as well as a reasonable cost in comparison with other materials.

Validation of ATDMs at early after the lF accident using air dose rate estimated by airborne concentration and surface deposition density

Moriguchi, Yuichi*; Sato, Yosuke*; Morino, Yu*; Goto, Daisuke*; Sekiyama, Tsuyoshi*; Terada, Hiroaki; Takigawa, Masayuki*; Tsuruta, Haruo*; Yamazawa, Hiromi*

KEK Proceedings 2021-2, p.21 - 27, 2021/12

no abstracts in English

Annual report for research on geosphere stability for long-term isolation of radioactive waste in fiscal year 2020

Ishimaru, Tsuneari; Ogata, Nobuhisa; Kokubu, Yoko; Shimada, Koji; Niwa, Masakazu; Shimada, Akiomi; Watanabe, Takahiro; Sueoka, Shigeru; Yokoyama, Tatsunori; Fujita, Natsuko; et al.

JAEA-Research 2021-007, 65 Pages, 2021/10

JAEA-Research-2021-007.pdf:4.21MB

This annual report documents the progress of research and development (R&D) in the 6th fiscal year during the JAEA 3rd Mid- and Long-term Plan (fiscal years 2015-2021) to provide the scientific base for assessing geosphere stability for long-term isolation of the high-level radioactive waste. The planned 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. The current status of R&D activities with previous scientific and technological progress is summarized.