Level structures of Ca cast doubt on a doubly magic Ca

Chen, S.*; Browne, F.*; Doornenbal, P.*; Lee, J.*; Obertelli, A.*; Tsunoda, Yusuke*; Otsuka, Takaharu*; Chazono, Yoshiki*; Hagen, G.*; Holt, J. D.*; et al.

Physics Letters B, 843, p.138025_1 - 138025_7, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2023.138025

Gamma decays were observed in Ca and Ca following quasi-free one-proton knockout reactions from Sc. For Ca, a ray transition was measured to be 1456(12) keV, while for Ca an indication for a transition was observed at 1115(34) keV. Both transitions were tentatively assigned as the decays. A shell-model calculation in a wide model space with a marginally modified effective nucleon-nucleon interaction depicts excellent agreement with experiment for level energies, two-neutron separation energies, and reaction cross sections, corroborating the formation of a new nuclear shell above the N = 34 shell. Its constituents, the and orbitals, are almost degenerate. This degeneracy precludes the possibility for a doubly magic Ca and potentially drives the dripline of Ca isotopes to Ca or even beyond.

"Southwestern" boundary of the island of inversion; First study of low-lying bound excited states in V and V

Elekes, Z.*; Juhsz, M. M.*; Sohler, D.*; Sieja, K.*; Yoshida, Kazuki; Ogata, Kazuyuki*; Doornenbal, P.*; Obertelli, A.*; Achouri, N. L.*; Baba, Hidetada*; et al.

Physical Review C, 106(6), p.064321_1 - 064321_10, 2022/12

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.106.064321

The low-lying level structure of V and V was investigated for the first time. The neutron knockout reaction and inelastic proton scattering were applied for V while the neutron knock-out reaction provided the data for V. Four and five new transitions were determined for V and V, respectively. Based on the comparison to our shell-model calculations using the Lenzi-Nowacki-Poves-Sieja (LNPS) interaction, three of the observed rays for each isotope could be placed in the level scheme and assigned to the decay of the first 11/2 and 9/2 levels. The (,) excitation cross sections for V were analyzed by the coupled-channels formalism assuming quadrupole plus hexadecapole deformations. Due to the role of the hexadecapole deformation, V could not be unambiguously placed on the island of inversion.

PSTEP: Project for solar-terrestrial environment prediction

Kusano, Kanya*; Ichimoto, Kiyoshi*; Ishii, Mamoru*; Miyoshi, Yoshizumi*; Yoden, Shigeo*; Akiyoshi, Hideharu*; Asai, Ayumi*; Ebihara, Yusuke*; Fujiwara, Hitoshi*; Goto, Tadanori*; et al.

Earth, Planets and Space (Internet), 73(1), p.159_1 - 159_29, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-021-01486-1

The PSTEP is a nationwide research collaboration in Japan and was conducted from April 2015 to March 2020, supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. It has made a significant progress in space weather research and operational forecasts, publishing over 500 refereed journal papers and organizing four international symposiums, various workshops and seminars, and summer school for graduate students at Rikubetsu in 2017. This paper is a summary report of the PSTEP and describes the major research achievements it produced.

Pairing forces govern population of doubly magic Ca from direct reactions

Browne, F.*; Chen, S.*; Doornenbal, P.*; Obertelli, A.*; Ogata, Kazuyuki*; Utsuno, Yutaka; Yoshida, Kazuki; Achouri, N. L.*; Baba, Hidetada*; Calvet, D.*; et al.

Physical Review Letters, 126(25), p.252501_1 - 252501_7, 2021/06

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.252501

Direct proton-knockout reactions of Sc were studied at the RIKEN Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory. Populated states of Ca were investigated through -ray and invariant-mass spectroscopy. Level energies were calculated from the nuclear shell model employing a phenomenological inter-nucleon interaction. Theoretical cross sections to states were calculated from distorted-wave impulse approximation estimates multiplied by the shell model spectroscopic factors. Despite the calculations showing a significant amplitude of excited neutron configurations in the ground-state of Sc, valence proton removals populated predominantly the ground-state of Ca. This counter-intuitive result is attributed to pairing effects leading to a dominance of the ground-state spectroscopic factor. Owing to the ubiquity of the pairing interaction, this argument should be generally applicable to direct knockout reactions from odd-even to even-even nuclei.

= 32 shell closure below calcium; Low-lying structure of Ar

Corts, M. L.*; Rodriguez, W.*; Doornenbal, P.*; Obertelli, A.*; Holt, J. D.*; Menndez, J.*; Ogata, Kazuyuki*; Schwenk, A.*; Shimizu, Noritaka*; Simonis, J.*; et al.

Physical Review C, 102(6), p.064320_1 - 064320_9, 2020/12

AA2020-0748.pdf:0.75MB

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.102.064320

Low-lying excited states in the = 32 isotope Ar were investigated by in-beam -ray spectroscopy following proton- and neutron-knockout, multinucleon removal, and proton inelastic scattering at the RIKEN Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory. The energies of the two previously reported transitions have been confirmed, and five additional states are presented for the first time, including a candidate for a 3 state. The level scheme built using coincidences was compared to shell-model calculations in the model space and to predictions based on chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions. Theoretical proton- and neutron-knockout cross sections suggest that two of the new transitions correspond to 2 states, while the previously proposed 4 state could also correspond to a 2 state.

Quasifree neutron knockout from Ca corroborates arising neutron magic number

Chen, S.*; Lee, J.*; Doornenbal, P.*; Obertelli, A.*; Barbieri, C.*; Chazono, Yoshiki*; Navrtil, P.*; Ogata, Kazuyuki*; Otsuka, Takaharu*; Raimondi, F.*; et al.

Physical Review Letters, 123(14), p.142501_1 - 142501_7, 2019/10

AA2019-0306.pdf:0.57MB

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.142501

no abstracts in English

Pyrochemical treatment of spent nitride fuels for MA transmutation

Hayashi, Hirokazu; Sato, Takumi; Shibata, Hiroki; Kurata, Masaki; Iwai, Takashi; Arai, Yasuo

Science China; Chemistry, 57(11), p.1427 - 1431, 2014/11

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-014-5205-9

Nitride fuels have several advantages, such as high thermal conductivity and high metal density like metallic fuels, and high melting point and isotropic crystal structure like oxide fuels. Since the late 1990s, the partitioning and transmutation of minor actinides (MA) has been studied to decrease the long term radio-toxicity of high level waste and mitigate the burden on the final disposal. Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been proposing dedicated transmutation cycle using the Accelerator-Driven System (ADS) with the nitride fuels containing MA. We have been developing the nitride fuel cycle including pyrochemical process. Our focus is on electrolysis of nitride fuels and refabrication of nitride fuel from the recovered actinides because other processes are similar to the technology for the metal fuel treatment and have been studied elsewhere. In this paper, we summarized our activity on developments of the pyrochemical treatment of the spent nitride fuels.

Electrochemical characteristics of layered LiMnCoO (2/) as a lithium-battery cathode

Ozawa, Kiyoshi*; Nakao, Yasuhiro*; Mochiku, Takashi*; Cheng, Z.*; Wang, L.*; Iwai, Hideo*; Tsuchiya, Yoshinori*; Fujii, Hiroki*; Igawa, Naoki

Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 159(3), p.A300 - A304, 2012/01

https://doi.org/10.1149/2.079203jes

A manganese-based solid solution with the composition of LiMnCoO was synthesized by a simplified coprecipitation method, and its electrochemical characteristics as a lithium-battery cathode were investigated. Rietveld refinement based on neutron diffraction data revealed that the material is assigned to an LiMnO-type structure model with a space group symmetry of 2/. In cycling of the cell in the potential range from 2.0 to 4.8 V at current densities of 30 mAhg, the discharge capacity characteristically increases from 46.3 to 196.5 mAhg as the cycle increases from 1 to 11, and a discharge capacity above 175.5 mAhg is obtained between the 23rd and 58th cycles. The cyclic voltammogram and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements showed that the manganese redox reaction is progressively activated during the first ten-odd cycles.

Establishment of technological basis for fabrication of U-Pu-Zr ternary alloy fuel pins for irradiation tests in Japan

Kikuchi, Hironobu; Nakamura, Kinya*; Iwai, Takashi; Nakajima, Kunihisa; Arai, Yasuo; Ogata, Takanari*

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai Wabun Rombunshi, 10(4), p.323 - 331, 2011/12

https://doi.org/10.3327/taesj.J11.006

A high-purity Ar gas atmosphere glovebox accommodating injection casting and sodium-bonding apparatuses was newly installed in Plutonium Fuel Research Facility (PFRF) of Oarai Research and Development Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency. Past experiences in PFRF led to the establishment of technological basis of fabrication of U-Pu-Zr alloy fuel pin for the first time in Japan. After the injection casting of U-Pu-Zr alloy, the metallic fuel pins are fabricated by welding upper- and lower end plugs with cladding tube of ferritic-martensitic steel. Subsequent to the sodium bonding for filling the annular gap region between the U-Pu-Zr alloy and cladding tube with the melted sodium, the fuel pins are subjected to the inspection for irradiation tests. This paper summarizes the equipment of the apparatuses and the technological basis for fabrication of U-Pu-Zr alloy fuel pins for the coming irradiation test in the experimental fast test reactor JOYO.

Development of the pyrochemical process of spent nitride fuels for ADS; Its elemental technologies and process flow diagram

Hayashi, Hirokazu; Sato, Takumi; Shibata, Hiroki; Iwai, Takashi; Nishihara, Kenji; Arai, Yasuo

Proceedings of International Conference on Toward and Over the Fukushima Daiichi Accident (GLOBAL 2011) (CD-ROM), 6 Pages, 2011/12

R&D on the transmutation of long-lived minor actinides (MA) by the accelerator-driven system (ADS) using nitride fuels is underway at Japan Atomic Energy Agency. In regard to reprocessing technology, pyrochemical process has several advantages in case of treating spent fuel with large decay heat and fast neutron emission, and recovering highly enriched N-15. In the pyrochemical reprocessing, plutonium (Pu) and MA are dissolved in LiCl-KCl eutectic melts and selectively recovered into liquid cadmium (Cd) cathode by molten salt electrorefining. The recovered Pu and MA are converted to nitrides by the nitridation-distillation combined method, in which the Cd alloys containing Pu and MA are heated in nitrogen gas stream. The authors have investigated its elemental technologies such as electrorefining and renitridation. On the other hand, development of the process flow diagram with the material balance sheet of the pyrochemical reprocessing of spent nitride fuel for ADS is in progress. This paper summarized recent progress of the study which aims to prove the technological applicability of pyrochemical process to the nitride fuel cycle for transmutation of MA.