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Nagasumi, Satoru; Hasegawa, Toshinari; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; Nakagawa, Shigeaki; Kubo, Shinji; Shimazaki, Yosuke; Nakajima, Kunihiro; Sakurai, Yosuke; Shinohara, Masanori; Saito, Kenji; et al.
Nuclear Engineering and Design, 446(Part A), p.114542_1 - 114542_14, 2026/01
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.00(Nuclear Science & Technology)To demonstrate HTGR's safety features, a loss-of-forced-cooling (LOFC) test was conducted using the HTTR. In this test, the forced cooling in the reactor core was intentionally lost by shutting down all helium gas circulators (HGCs) without reactor scram. During steady-state operation at 100% reactor power (30 MW), after the LOFC, the reactor power spontaneously decreased. This power reduction occurred due to the negative reactivity feedback effect triggered by an increase in core temperature. The power stabilized at a lower value of 1.2% after re-criticality. Additionally, the measured radioactivity concentration in the primary coolant remained nearly unchanged during this LOFC operation and during an immediately subsequent HTTR operation. This indicates no failure of the coated particle fuel, even after the increase in core temperature associated with the LOFC event. These results provide experimental evidence of the safety features of HTGRs.
Hasegawa, Kenta; Seki, Masakazu; Aizawa, Eiju; Sumiya, Masato; Yoshikawa, Tomoki; Maekawa, Tomoyuki; Ishii, Junichi; Araki, Shohei; Izawa, Kazuhiko; Gunji, Satoshi
Proceedings of Nuclear Criticality Safety Division 2025 Conference (NCSD 2025) (Internet), p.50 - 59, 2025/09
The STACY was modified from a homogeneous solution-fueled reactor to a heterogeneous-core reactor composed of fuel rods and a light water moderator. This modification was undertaken to support research on the criticality characteristics of fuel debris generated by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. To facilitate these studies, we developed simulant devices that can be inserted into the modified STACY core as components of fuel debris mock-up configurations. From April to June 2024, Authors conducted a series of pre-service inspections on the safety performance of STACY and subsequently received approval from the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) to resume operation. Experimental operations involving the simulant devices were carried out from that point until the end of March 2025. The pre-service inspections included shutdown margin, one-rod stuck margin, and measurements of the reactivity addition rate. All results satisfied STACY's safety limits.
Ishii, Junichi; Seki, Masakazu; Aizawa, Eiju; Sumiya, Masato; Maekawa, Tomoyuki; Arakaki, Yu; Hasegawa, Kenta; Araki, Shohei; Izawa, Kazuhiko; Gunji, Satoshi
Proceedings of Nuclear Criticality Safety Division 2025 Conference (NCSD 2025) (Internet), p.39 - 48, 2025/09
The removal of fuel debris is one of the most important and challenging tasks in the decommissioning of power reactors damaged in the 2011 accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (1F). The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has implemented a renewal program of the Static Experiment Critical Facility (STACY), transitioning it from a homogeneous solution system to a heterogeneous water-moderated system, in order to verify the criticality calculations that consider the fuel debris from the 1F accident. The first criticality of the modified STACY was achieved in April 2024. After a series of performance inspections, an experimental campaign for the investigation of fuel debris characteristics was started in August 2024. In this paper, we describe the main equipment of the modified STACY. In addition, the experimental equipment for the debris-simulated core configuration is also introduced.
Araki, Shohei; Arakaki, Yu; Maekawa, Tomoyuki; Kamikawa, Yutaka; Hasegawa, Kenta; Yoshikawa, Tomoki; Tada, Yuta; Sumiya, Masato; Seki, Masakazu; Aizawa, Eiju; et al.
Proceedings of Nuclear Criticality Safety Division 2025 Conference (NCSD 2025) (Internet), p.80 - 89, 2025/09
In order to investigate the effect on criticality characteristics of fuel debris containing concrete composition in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, critical experiments loaded concrete rods were conducted in the modified STACY. The experimental cores of the modified STACY were composed of light water, fuel rods, and concrete rods with grid plates with 15.0-mm lattice intervals in the core tank. Each fuel rod consisted of a zirconium alloy clad tube (9.5-mm outer diameter) and UO
pellets (8.2-mm diameter) with 4.98wt.% 235U enrichment. Each concrete rod was composed of concrete simulant pellets (7.0-mm diameter) and an aluminum alloy clad tube (9.5-mm outer diameter). The concrete simulant pellets were fabricated using an aggregate-free mortar in order to ensure a uniform composition of the pellets, and the composition was evaluated by chemical analysis. Three experimental cores were configurated with 9, 25 and 69 concrete rods. The critical water level data were obtained. An effect of composition uncertainty of the concrete simulant pellet was estimated by sensitivity analysis using MCNP6.2 with JENLD-4.0. The sensitivity analysis estimated the effect to be less than 3 pcm. The calculation results performed using MCNP6.2 with ENDF/B-VII.1, JENDL-4.0, and JENDL-5 libraries showed a tendency to overestimate the multiplication factor according to increasing the loading amount of the concrete rods.
Hasegawa, Kenta; Ambai, Hiromu; Takahatake, Yoko; Watanabe, So; Nakamura, Masahiro; Sano, Yuichi; Takeuchi, Masayuki
Progress in Nuclear Science and Technology (Internet), 8, p.248 - 251, 2025/09
Nagasumi, Satoru; Hasegawa, Toshinari; Nakagawa, Shigeaki; Kubo, Shinji; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; Shinohara, Masanori; Saikusa, Akio; Nojiri, Naoki; Saito, Kenji; Furusawa, Takayuki; et al.
JAEA-Research 2025-005, 23 Pages, 2025/07
JAEA-Research-2025-005.pdf:2.68MB
A safety demonstration test under abnormal operating conditions using the HTTR (High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor) was conducted to demonstrate safety features of the HTGRs (High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors). Under a simulation of a control rod shutdown failure, all primary helium gas circulators were intentionally stopped during a steady-state operation at 100% reactor thermal power (30 MW), temporal changes of the reactor power and temperatures around the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) were obtained after the complete loss of forced heat removal from the reactor core. After the event (primary coolant flow stopped), the reactor power quickly decreased due to the negative reactivity feedback associated with the core temperature rise, and then the reactor power spontaneously shifted to a stable state of low power (about 1.2%) even after a recriticality. Heat dissipation from RPV surface to a surrounding vessel cooling system (water-cooled panels) ensured the amount of heat removal required to maintain the reactor temperature constant in the low power state. In this way, the transition from the event occurrence to the stable and safety state, i.e., inherent safety features of HTGRs, were demonstrated in the case of core forced cooling loss without active shutdown operations.
Araki, Shohei; Aizawa, Eiju; Murakami, Takahiko; Arakaki, Yu; Tada, Yuta; Kamikawa, Yutaka; Hasegawa, Kenta; Yoshikawa, Tomoki; Sumiya, Masato; Seki, Masakazu; et al.
Annals of Nuclear Energy, 217, p.111323_1 - 111323_8, 2025/07
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.00(Nuclear Science & Technology)JAEA has modified the STACY from a homogeneous system using solution fuel to a heterogeneous system using fuel rods in order to obtain criticality characteristics of fuel debris. The modification of the STACY was completed in December 2023. A series of performance inspections were conducted for the start of experimental operations. A new thermal power calibration is required for the performance inspections in order to operate at less than 200 W, which is the permitted thermal power. However, the thermal power measurement method and calibration data used in the former STACY is no longer available due to the modification of the modified STACY. We measured the thermal power of the STACY using the activation method that was improved to adapt to the measurement condition and calibrated the power meter system. Since the positions where activation foils could be installed were very limited, the thermal power was evaluated using numerical calculations supplemented by experimental data. Neutron flux data at the positions of the activation foil was measured by the activation method. Neutron distribution in the core was calculated by the Monte Carlo code MVP. A response function of the activation foil was calculated using the PHITS. The uncertainty of the thermal power measurement was conservatively estimated to be about 15%. Four operations were conducted for the thermal power measurement. The power meter was calibrated by using three operational data and tested with the one operational data. It was found that the indicated value of the meter adjusted by the STACY before the modification work would tend to overestimate the actual output by about 40%. In addition, the current calibration was able to calibrate the meter to within 3% accuracy.
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.
experiment using a 
Cf calibration sourceLee, D. H.*; Dodo, Taku; Haga, Katsuhiro; Harada, Masahide; Hasegawa, Shoichi; Kasugai, Yoshimi; Kinoshita, Hidetaka; Masuda, Shiho; Meigo, Shinichiro; Sakai, Kenji; et al.
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 1072, p.170216_1 - 170216_6, 2025/03
Times Cited Count：2 Percentile：73.73(Instruments & Instrumentation)Arai, Yoichi; Watanabe, So; Nakahara, Masaumi; Funakoshi, Tomomasa; Hoshino, Takanori; Takahatake, Yoko; Sakamoto, Atsushi; Aihara, Haruka; Hasegawa, Kenta; Yoshida, Toshiki; et al.
Progress in Nuclear Science and Technology (Internet), 7, p.168 - 174, 2025/03
The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been conducting a project named "Systematic Treatment of RAdioactive liquid waste for Decommissioning (STRAD)" project since 2018 for fundamental and practical studies for treating radioactive liquid wastes with complicated compositions. Fundamental studies have been conducted using genuine liquid wastes accumulated in a hot laboratory of the JAEA called the Chemical Processing Facility (CPF), and treatment procedures for all liquid wastes in CPF were successfully designed on the results obtained. As the next phase of the project, new fundamental and practical studies on primarily organic liquid wastes accumulated in different facilities of JAEA are in progress. This paper reviews the representative achievements of the STRAD project and introduces an overview of ongoing studies.
Marzec, E.*; Dodo, Taku; Haga, Katsuhiro; Harada, Masahide; Hasegawa, Shoichi; Kasugai, Yoshimi; Kinoshita, Hidetaka; Masuda, Shiho; Meigo, Shinichiro; Sakai, Kenji; et al.
Physical Review Letters, 134(8), p.081801_1 - 081801_9, 2025/02
Times Cited Count：6 Percentile：89.17(Physics, Multidisciplinary)Dodo, Taku; Haga, Katsuhiro; Harada, Masahide; Hasegawa, Shoichi; Kasugai, Yoshimi; Kinoshita, Hidetaka; Masuda, Shiho; Meigo, Shinichiro; Sakai, Kenji; Suzuya, Kentaro; et al.
Progress of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (Internet), 2025(2), p.023H02_1 - 023H02_8, 2025/02
Times Cited Count：1 Percentile：41.22(Physics, Multidisciplinary)Watanabe, Kenichi*; Sugai, Yusuke*; Hasegawa, Sota*; Tanaka, Seishiro*; Hitomi, Keitaro*; Nogami, Mitsuhiro*; Shinohara, Takenao; Su, Y. H.; Parker, J. D.*; Kockelmann, W.*
Scientific Reports (Internet), 14, p.25224_1 - 25224_13, 2024/10
Times Cited Count：1 Percentile：11.46(Multidisciplinary Sciences)
C
reaction at 1.8 GeV/
with the Superconducting Kaon spectrometerIchikawa, Yudai; Fujita, Manami; Hasegawa, Shoichi; Imai, Kenichi*; Nanamura, Takuya; Naruki, Megumi; Sato, Susumu; Sako, Hiroyuki; Tamura, Hirokazu; Tanida, Kiyoshi; et al.
Progress of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (Internet), 2024(9), p.091D01_1 - 091D01_13, 2024/09
Times Cited Count：4 Percentile：56.92(Physics, Multidisciplinary)Machida, Masahiko; Yamada, Susumu; Kim, M.; Tanaka, Satoshi*; Tobita, Yasuhiro*; Iwata, Ayako*; Aoki, Yuto; Aoki, Kazuhisa; Yanagisawa, Kenichi*; Yamaguchi, Takashi; et al.
RIST News, (70), p.3 - 22, 2024/09
Inside the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (1F), there are many locations with high radiation levels due to contamination by radioactive materials that leaked from the reactor. These pose a significant obstacle to the smooth progress of decommissioning work. To help solve this issue, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), under a subsidy from the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry's decommissioning and contaminated water management project, is conducting research and development on digital technologies to improve the radiation environment inside the decommissioning site. This project, titled "Development of Technology to Improve the Environment Inside Reactor Buildings (Enhancing Digital Technology for Environment and Source Distribution to Reduce Radiation Exposure)," began in April of FY 2023. In this project, the aim is to develop three interconnected systems: FrontEnd, Pro, and BackEnd. The FrontEnd system, based on the previously developed 3D-ADRES-Indoor (prototype) from FY 2021-2022, will be upgraded to a high-speed digital twin technology usable on-site. The Pro system will carry out detailed analysis in rooms such as the new office building at 1F, while the BackEnd system will serve as a database to centrally manage the collected and analyzed data. This report focuses on the FrontEnd system, which will be used on-site. After point cloud measurement, the system will quickly create a 3D mesh model, estimate the radiation source from dose rate measurements, and refine the position and intensity of the estimated source using recalculation techniques (re-observation instructions and re-estimation). The results of verification tests conducted on Unit 5 are also presented. Furthermore, the report briefly discusses the future research and development plans for this project.
Ishitsuka, Etsuo; Nagasumi, Satoru; Hasegawa, Toshinari; Kawai, Hiromi*; Wakisaka, Shinji*; Nagase, Sota*; Nakamura, Kento*; Yaguchi, Hiroki*; Ishii, Toshiaki; Nakano, Yumi*; et al.
JAEA-Technology 2024-008, 23 Pages, 2024/07
JAEA-Technology-2024-008.pdf:1.69MB
Five people from three universities participated in the 2023 summer holiday practical training with the theme of "Technical development on HTTR". The participants practiced the analysis of HTTR core, the analysis of behavior on loss of forced cooling test, the analysis of Iodine deposition behavior in primary cooling system and the feasibility study of energy storage system for HTGRs. In the questionnaire after this training, there were impressions such as that it was useful as a work experience and some students found it useful for their own research. These impressions suggest that this training was generally evaluated as good.
Arai, Yoichi; Hasegawa, Kenta; Watanabe, So; Watanabe, Masayuki; Minowa, Kazuki*; Matsuura, Haruaki*; Hagura, Naoto*; Katsuki, Kenta*; Arai, Tsuyoshi*; Konishi, Yasuhiro*
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 333(7), p.3585 - 3593, 2024/07
Times Cited Count：1 Percentile：12.78(Chemistry, Analytical)Nemoto, Takahiro; Fujiwara, Yusuke; Arakawa, Ryoki; Choyama, Yuya; Nagasumi, Satoru; Hasegawa, Toshinari; Yokoyama, Keisuke; Watanabe, Masashi; Onishi, Takashi; Kawamoto, Taiki; et al.
JAEA-Technology 2024-003, 17 Pages, 2024/06
JAEA-Technology-2024-003.pdf:1.91MB
In order to investigate the cause of the increase in differential pressure in the primary helium circulator filter that occurred during the RS-14 cycle, a clogged filter was investigated. As a result of the investigation, deposits caused by silicone oil were confirmed on the surface of the filter element. These results revealed that the cause of filter clogging was silicone oil mixed into the primary system due to performance deterioration of the charcoal filter in the gas circulator of primary helium purification system. As a measure to prevent the recurrence of this event, in addition to the conventional management based on operating hours for replacing of charcoal filter in the gas circulator of primary helium purification system, we have established a new replacement plan for every three years.
experimentLee, D. H.*; Dodo, Taku; Haga, Katsuhiro; Harada, Masahide; Hasegawa, Shoichi; Kasugai, Yoshimi; Kinoshita, Hidetaka; Masuda, Shiho; Meigo, Shinichiro; Sakai, Kenji; et al.
European Physical Journal C, 84, p.409_1 - 409_6, 2024/04
Times Cited Count：2 Percentile：27.86(Physics, Particles & Fields)Hasegawa, Kenta; Goto, Ichiro*; Miyazaki, Yasunori; Ambai, Hiromu; Watanabe, So; Watanabe, Masayuki; Sano, Yuichi; Takeuchi, Masayuki
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 11(2), p.23-00407_1 - 23-00407_8, 2024/04
