Integrated thermal power measurement in the modified STACY for the performance inspections

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

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2025.111323

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.

Missing-mass measurement of the C reaction at 1.8 GeV/ with the Superconducting Kaon spectrometer

Ichikawa, 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

https://doi.org/10.1093/ptep/ptae133

Report of summer holiday practical training on 2023

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.

Differential pressure rise event for filters of HTTR primary helium gas circulators, 2; Investigation of filter deposits and recurrence prevention measures

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.

Overview of development program for engineering scale extraction chromatography MA(III) recovery system

Watanabe, So; Takahatake, Yoko; Hasegawa, Kenta; Goto, Ichiro*; Miyazaki, Yasunori; Watanabe, Masayuki; Sano, Yuichi; Takeuchi, Masayuki

Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 11(2), p.23-00461_1 - 23-00461_10, 2024/04

https://doi.org/10.1299/mej.23-00461

Comparison between neutron bragg dip and electron backscatter diffraction images of TlBr semiconductors

Watanabe, Kenichi*; Sugai, Yusuke*; Hasegawa, Sota*; Hitomi, Keitaro*; Nogami, Mitsuhiro*; Shinohara, Takenao; Su, Y. H.; Parker, J. D.*; Kockelmann, W.*

Sensors and Materials, 36(1), p.149 - 154, 2024/01

https://doi.org/10.18494/SAM4629

Validation of integrated thermal power measurement using solution fuel STACY experimental data for modified STACY performance test

Araki, Shohei; Gunji, Satoshi; Arakaki, Yu; Murakami, Takahiko; Yoshikawa, Tomoki; Hasegawa, Kenta; Tada, Yuta; Izawa, Kazuhiko; Suyama, Kenya

Proceedings of 4th Reactor Physics Asia Conference (RPHA2023) (Internet), 4 Pages, 2023/10

To conduct integrated thermal power measurements for the performance test of the modified STACY, we re-analyzed the experimental data measured in the solution fuel STACY using the activation method. We validated its feasibility under the limited number of activation detectors. The re-analyzed results of the activation method by using MVP and PHITS with JENDL-4.0 indicated that the effect of the difference of the position between activation detectors was small enough, and the results agreed with that of the fission product analysis within almost 10%. It is conceivable that the activation method could be adopted instead of the fission product analysis.

Competitive distribution of europium and samarium based on reaction rate-limiting process in nitrilotriacetamide extractant-impregnated polymer-coated silica particles

Miyagawa, Akihisa*; Hayashi, Naoki*; Iwamoto, Hibiki*; Arai, Tsuyoshi*; Nagatomo, Shigenori*; Miyazaki, Yasunori; Hasegawa, Kenta; Sano, Yuichi; Nakatani, Kiyoharu*

Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan, 96(9), p.1019 - 1025, 2023/09

https://doi.org/10.1246/bcsj.20230142

In the present study, we have elucidated the mass transfer mechanism of Eu(III) and Sm(III) in the solution with these ions in single nitrilotriacetamide (NTA) extractant-impregnated polymer-coated silica particle. The rate-limiting process of mass transfer was the reaction process of ions with NTA molecules, in which the NO ions were not involved, which was consistent with that obtained in single ion distribution system.

Evaluation of the remaining spent extraction solvent in vermiculite after leaching tests via PIXE analysis

Arai, Yoichi; Watanabe, So; Hasegawa, Kenta; Okamura, Nobuo; Watanabe, Masayuki; Takeda, Keisuke*; Fukumoto, Hiroki*; Ago, Tomohiro*; Hagura, Naoto*; Tsukahara, Takehiko*

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 542, p.206 - 213, 2023/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2023.07.003

Parameter optimization for urban wind simulation using ensemble Kalman filter

Onodera, Naoyuki; Idomura, Yasuhiro; Hasegawa, Yuta; Asahi, Yuichi; Inagaki, Atsushi*; Shimose, Kenichi*; Hirano, Kohin*

Keisan Kogaku Koenkai Rombunshu (CD-ROM), 28, 4 Pages, 2023/05

We have developed a multi-scale wind simulation code named CityLBM that can resolve entire cities to detailed streets. CityLBM enables a real time ensemble simulation for several km square area by applying the locally mesh-refined lattice Boltzmann method on GPU supercomputers. On the other hand, real-world wind simulations contain complex boundary conditions that cannot be modeled, so data assimilation techniques are needed to reflect observed data in the simulation. This study proposes an optimization method for ground surface temperature bias based on an ensemble Kalman filter to reproduce wind conditions within urban city blocks. As a verification of CityLBM, an Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) is conducted for the central Tokyo area to estimate boundary conditions from observed near-surface temperature values.