Decommissioning state of Plutonium Fuel Fabrication Facility; Dismantling the glove box W-9 and equipment interior, and a part of tunnel F1

Nagai, Yuya; Shuji, Yoshiyuki; Kawasaki, Takeshi; Aita, Takahiro; Kimura, Yasuhisa; Nemoto, Yasunori*; Onuma, Takesi*; Tomiyama, Noboru*; Hirano, koji*; Usui, Yasuhiro*; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2022-039, 117 Pages, 2023/06

JAEA-Technology-2022-039.pdf:11.96MB

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) manages wide range of nuclear facilities. Many of these facilities are required to be performed adjustment with the aging and complement with the new regulatory standards and the earthquake resistant, since the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident. It is therefore desirable to promote decommissioning of facilities that have reached the end of their productive life in order to reduce risk and maintenance costs. However, the progress of facility decommissioning require large amount of money and radioactive waste storage space. In order to address these issues, JAEA has formulated a "The Medium/Long-Term Management Plan of JAEA Facilities" with three pillars: (1) consolidation and prioritization of facilities, (2) assurance of facility safety, and (3) back-end countermeasures. In this plan, Plutonium Fuel Fabrication Facility has been selected as primary decommissioned facility, and dismantling of equipment in the facilities have been underway. In this report, size reduction activities of the glove box W-9 and a part of tunnel F-1, which was connected to W-9, are presented, and the obtained findings are highlighted. The glovebox W-9 had oxidation & reduction furnace, and pellet crushing machine as equipment interior. The duration of activity took six years from February 2014 to February 2020, including suspended period of 4 years due to the enhanced authorization approval process

High-sensitive XANES analysis at Ce L-edge for Ce in bauxites using transition-edge sensors; Implications for Ti-rich geological samples

Li, W.*; Yamada, Shinya*; Hashimoto, Tadashi; Okumura, Takuma*; Hayakawa, Ryota*; Nitta, Kiyofumi*; Sekizawa, Oki*; Suga, Hiroki*; Uruga, Tomoya*; Ichinohe, Yuto*; et al.

Analytica Chimica Acta, 1240, p.340755_1 - 340755_9, 2023/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2022.340755

no abstracts in English

Reducing the effect of noise generated from stepper motor for H0 collimator in J-PARC RCS

Fujiyama, Hiroki*; Takahashi, Hiroki; Okabe, Kota; Ito, Yuichi*; Hatakeyama, Shuichiro; Suzuki, Takahiro*; Otsu, Satoru*; Yamakawa, Ryuto*

Proceedings of 19th Annual Meeting of Particle Accelerator Society of Japan (Internet), p.529 - 531, 2023/01

http://www.pasj.jp/web_publish/pasj2022/proceedings/PDF/WEP0/WEP010.pdf

Stepper motors are used for mechanical drive in collimators and wire scanner monitors of J-PARC accelerators. Many of these drive unit hardware have been used since the beginning of J-PARC construction, and it is necessary to take measures against aging deterioration. Therefore, we started updating the motor and control system from around 2017. However, when the stepper motor was updated to the current product in the RCS H0 collimator, a malfunction occurred. This is because the drive unit control system cannot correctly recognize the state of the LS (limit switch) due to the noise generated by the motor driver, which hinders the operation. When the noise generated from the old and new stepper motors was measured in a simple test environment for confirmation, it was found that the current product was clearly larger. As a countermeasure, when the wiring of the stepper motor, which was bundled in a single multi-core cable, was separated into separate cables for the power system and LS signal system, the noise level was reduced to about 1/10 and normal operation was restored. I was able to. In this case, we report on noise countermeasures for the RCS H0 collimator drive unit.

Update of MPS modules for J-PARC linac and RCS, 2

Takahashi, Hiroki; Suzuki, Takahiro*; Ishiyama, Tatsuya*; Ito, Yuichi*

Proceedings of 18th Annual Meeting of Particle Accelerator Society of Japan (Internet), p.914 - 917, 2021/10

https://www.pasj.jp/web_publish/pasj2021/proceedings/PDF/THP0/THP038.pdf

In the event of an abnormal situation, a machine protection system (MPS) that immediately inhibits the beam is indispensable to minimize the damage and the radioactivation by beam loss. The existing MPS was developed during the construction period, and there are many MPS modules that have been used from the beginning of J-PARC operation, Therefore, as a measure against aging, we started designing, manufacturing and updating the new MPS module in 2018. In this paper, the specifications and the results of performance test about the newly designed and manufactured the MPS signal aggregation module and the E/O converter module will be described.

High-temperature antiferromagnetism in Yb based heavy fermion systems proximate to a Kondo insulator

Suzuki, Shintaro*; Takubo, Ko*; Kuga, Kentaro*; Higemoto, Wataru; Ito, Takashi; Tomita, Takahiro*; Shimura, Yasumichi*; Matsumoto, Yosuke*; Bareille, C.*; Wadachi, Hiroki*; et al.

Physical Review Research (Internet), 3(2), p.023140_1 - 023140_12, 2021/05

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.023140

We report our experimental discovery of the transition temperature reaching 20 K in a Yb-based compound at ambient pressure. The Mn substitution at the Al site in an intermediate valence state of -YbAlB not only induces antiferromagnetic transition at a record high temperature of 20 K but also transforms the heavy-fermion liquid state in -YbAlB into a highly resistive metallic state proximate to a Kondo insulator.

Controlled growth of boron-doped epitaxial graphene by thermal decomposition of a BC thin film

Norimatsu, Wataru*; Matsuda, Keita*; Terasawa, Tomoo; Takata, Nao*; Masumori, Atsushi*; Ito, Keita*; Oda, Koji*; Ito, Takahiro*; Endo, Akira*; Funahashi, Ryoji*; et al.

Nanotechnology, 31(14), p.145711_1 - 145711_7, 2020/04

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/ab62cf

We show that boron-doped epitaxial graphene can be successfully grown by thermal decomposition of a boron carbide thin film, which can also be epitaxially grown on a silicon carbide substrate. The interfaces of BC on SiC and graphene on BC had a fixed orientation relation, having a local stable structure with no dangling bonds. The first carbon layer on BC acts as a buffer layer, and the overlaying carbon layers are graphene. Graphene on BC was highly boron doped, and the hole concentration could be controlled over a wide range of 210 to 210 cm. Highly boron-doped graphene exhibited a spin-glass behavior, which suggests the presence of local antiferromagnetic ordering in the spin-frustration system. Thermal decomposition of carbides holds the promise of being a technique to obtain a new class of wafer-scale functional epitaxial graphene for various applications.

Status of study of long-term assessment of transport of radioactive contaminants in the environment of Fukushima (FY2018)

Nagao, Fumiya; Niizato, Tadafumi; Sasaki, Yoshito; Ito, Satomi; Watanabe, Takayoshi; Dohi, Terumi; Nakanishi, Takahiro; Sakuma, Kazuyuki; Hagiwara, Hiroki; Funaki, Hironori; et al.

JAEA-Research 2019-002, 235 Pages, 2019/08

JAEA-Research-2019-002.pdf:21.04MB

The accident of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (hereinafter referred to 1F), Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. occurred due to the Great East Japan Earthquake, Sanriku offshore earthquake, of 9.0 magnitude and the accompanying tsunami. As a result, large amount of radioactive materials was released into the environment. Under these circumstances, JAEA has been conducting Long-term Environmental Dynamics Research concerning radioactive materials released in environment, especially migration behavior of radioactive cesium since November 2012. This report is a summary of the research results that have been obtained in environmental dynamics research conducted by JAEA in Fukushima Prefecture.

A Bunch structure measurement of muons accelerated by RFQ using a longitudinal beam-profile monitor with high time resolution

Sue, Yuki*; Iijima, Toru*; Inami, Kenji*; Yotsuzuka, Mai*; Futatsukawa, Kenta*; Kawamura, Naritoshi*; Mibe, Tsutomu*; Miyake, Yasuhiro*; Otani, Masashi*; Hasegawa, Kazuo; et al.

Proceedings of 10th International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC '19) (Internet), p.37 - 40, 2019/06

https://doi.org/10.18429/JACoW-IPAC2019-MOZZPLM2

The result of bunch size measurement of muon accelerated by RFQ up to 89 keV is presented in this paper. A four-stage muon linac for precise measurement of muon property is under construction in the J-PARC. The demonstration of the first muon RF acceleration with an RFQ linac was conducted and the transverse profile of the accelerated muons was measured in 2017. As one of the remaining issues for the beam diagnostic system, the longitudinal beam profile after the RFQ should be measured to match the profile to the designed acceptance of the subsequent accelerator. For this purpose, the new longitudinal beam monitor using the microchannel plate is under development. The time resolution of the monitor aims to be around 30 to 40 ps corresponding to 1% of a period of an operating frequency of the accelerator, which is 324 MHz. On November 2018, the bunch size of accelerated negative muonium ion of 89 keV with the RFQ was measured using this monitor at the J-PARC MLF. The measured bunch width is ns, which is consistent with the simulation.

Status of study of long-term assessment of transport of radioactive contaminants in the environment of Fukushima; As a part of dissemination of evidence-based information

Tsuruta, Tadahiko; Niizato, Tadafumi; Nakanishi, Takahiro; Dohi, Terumi; Nakama, Shigeo; Funaki, Hironori; Misono, Toshiharu; Oyama, Takuya; Kurikami, Hiroshi; Hayashi, Seiji*; et al.

JAEA-Review 2017-018, 86 Pages, 2017/10

JAEA-Review-2017-018.pdf:17.58MB

Since the accidents at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant following the Tohoku Region Pacific Coast Earthquake on March 11th, 2011, Fukushima Environmental Safety Center has carried out research on natural mobilization of radionuclide (especially radiocesium) and future forecast from forest to water system and surrounding residential areas. The report summarizes the latest results that have been accumulated from each study field, of our agency together with the other related research organizations. The contents of the report is to be used as evidence-based information for the QA-styled pages in the website of JAEA Sector of Fukushima Research and Development at the time of next renewal.

Comprehensive study on initial thermal oxidation of GaN(0001) surface and subsequent oxide growth in dry oxygen ambient

Yamada, Takahiro*; Ito, Joyo*; Asahara, Ryohei*; Watanabe, Kenta*; Nozaki, Mikito*; Nakazawa, Satoshi*; Anda, Yoshiharu*; Ishida, Masahiro*; Ueda, Tetsuzo*; Yoshigoe, Akitaka; et al.

Journal of Applied Physics, 121(3), p.035303_1 - 035303_9, 2017/01

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4974458

Initial oxidation of GaN(0001) epilayers and subsequent growth of thermal oxides in dry oxygen ambient were investigated by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements. It was found that, whereas initial oxide formation tends to saturate at temperatures below 800C, selective growth of small oxide grains proceeds at dislocations in the epilayers, followed by noticeable grain growth leading to rough surface morphology at higher oxidation temperatures. This indicates that oxide growth and its morphology are crucially dependent on the defect density in the GaN epilayers. Structural characterizations also revealed that polycrystalline - and -phase GaO grains in an epitaxial relation with the GaN substrate are formed from the initial stage of the oxide growth. On the basis of these experimental findings, we also developed a comprehensive model for GaN oxidation mediated by nitrogen removal and mass transport.