Effect of uniaxial tensile strain on binding energy of hydrogen atoms to vacancy-carbon-hydrogen complexes in -iron

Hirayama, Shintaro*; Sato, Koichi*; Kato, Daiji*; Iwakiri, Hirotomo*; Yamaguchi, Masatake; Watanabe, Yoshiyuki*; Nozawa, Takashi*

Nuclear Materials and Energy (Internet), 31, p.101179_1 - 101179_9, 2022/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nme.2022.101179

no abstracts in English

Evaluation of tensile and creep properties on 9Cr-ODS steel claddings

Yano, Yasuhide; Hashidate, Ryuta; Tanno, Takashi; Imagawa, Yuya; Kato, Shoichi; Onizawa, Takashi; Ito, Chikara; Uwaba, Tomoyuki; Otsuka, Satoshi; Kaito, Takeji

JAEA-Data/Code 2021-015, 64 Pages, 2022/01

JAEA-Data-Code-2021-015.pdf:2.6MB

From a view point of practical application of fast breeder reactor cycles, which takes advantage of safety and economic efficiency and makes a contribution of volume reduction and mitigation of degree of harmfulness of high-level radioactive waste, it is necessary to develop fuel cladding materials for fast reactors (FRs) in order to achieve high-burnup. Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steel have been studied for use as potential fuel cladding materials in FRs owing to their excellent resistance to swelling and their high-temperature strength in Japan Atomic Energy Agency. It is very important to establish the materials strength standard in order to apply ODS steels as a fuel cladding. Therefore, it is necessary to acquire the mechanical properties such as tensile, creep rupture strength tests and so on. In this study, tensile and creep rupture strengths of 9Cr-ODS steel claddings were evaluated using by acquired these data. Because of the phase transformation temperature of 9Cr-ODS steel, temperature range for the evaluation was divided into two ones at AC1 transformation temperature of 850C.

Study on the evaluation method to determine the radioactivity concentration in radioactive waste on Oarai Research and Development Institute (FY2020)

Asakura, Kazuki; Shimomura, Yusuke; Donomae, Yasushi; Abe, Kazuyuki; Kitamura, Ryoichi; Miyakoshi, Hiroyuki; Takamatsu, Misao; Sakamoto, Naoki; Isozaki, Ryosuke; Onishi, Takashi; et al.

JAEA-Review 2021-020, 42 Pages, 2021/10

JAEA-Review-2021-020.pdf:2.95MB

The disposal of radioactive waste from the research facility need to calculate from the radioactivity concentration that based on variously nuclear fuels and materials. In Japan Atomic Energy Agency Oarai Research and Development Institute, the study on considering disposal is being advanced among the facilities which generate radioactive waste as well as the facilities which process radioactive waste. This report summarizes a study result in FY2020 about the evaluation method to determine the radioactivity concentration in radioactive waste on Oarai Research and Development Institute.

Effect of seawater components on corrosion rate of steel in air/solution alternating condition

Otani, Kyohei; Tsukada, Takashi; Ueno, Fumiyoshi; Kato, Chiaki

Zairyo To Kankyo, 69(9), p.246 - 252, 2020/09

https://doi.org/10.3323/jcorr.69.246

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of artificial sea water concentration on the corrosion rate of carbon steel under air/solution alternating condition, and to clarify the corrosion mechanism of carbon steel that changes with artificial seawater concentration. Mass measurements showed that the corrosion rate of carbon steel in the alternating condition accelerates with increasing concentration in the concentration region between deionized water to 200 times diluted artificial seawater (ASW), and the corrosion rate decreases with increasing concentration in the concentration region between 20 times diluted ASW to undiluted ASW. It can be considered that the reason why the carbon steel corrosion was suppressed in highly concentrated artificial seawater would Mg ions and Ca ions in the artificial seawater precipitate and cover on the surface due to the increase in pH near the surface by oxygen reduction reaction.

Proposal of simulation materials test technique and their constitutive equations for structural tests and analyses simulating severe accident conditions

Hashidate, Ryuta; Kato, Shoichi; Onizawa, Takashi; Wakai, Takashi; Kasahara, Naoto*

Proceedings of ASME 2020 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference (PVP 2020) (Internet), 9 Pages, 2020/08

https://doi.org/10.1115/PVP2020-21397

Although it is very essential to clarify how the structure collapses under the severe accident conditions, the failure mechanisms in excessive high temperatures are not clarified. However, it is very difficult and expensive to perform structural tests using actual structural materials. Therefore, we propose to use lead alloys instead of actual structural materials. For demonstration of analogy between the failure mechanisms of lead alloys structure at low temperature and those of the actual structures at high temperature, numerical analyses are required. Although the authors proposed inelastic constitutive equations for numerical analyses in 2019, the equations could not successfully express because of large variations observed in the material tests of the lead alloy. In this study, we propose the improved inelastic constitutive equations of the lead alloy on the basis of the material test results used by aged alloy which can stabilized the material characteristic.

Crystallization processes of quartz in a granitic magma; Cathodoluminescence zonation pattern controlled by temperature and titanium diffusivity

Yuguchi, Takashi*; Ogita, Yasuhiro; Kato, Takenori*; Yokota, Rintaro*; Sasao, Eiji; Nishiyama, Tadao*

Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 192, p.104289_1 - 104289_16, 2020/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2020.104289

Quartz from a granitic pluton is found to have formed through sequential growth events under different mechanisms and crystallization temperatures, which can provide new insights into magmatic processes of granitic magmas that were eventually consolidified into plutons. The events were identified using (1) the description of crystal shape and occurrence, (2) the study of the internal structure with cathodoluminescence (CL), and (3) derivation of the crystallization temperatures based on TitaniQ thermometry. The magmatic quartz crystals from the Toki granite, central Japan, are characterized as having the following internal structures: oscillatory zonation, no-oscillatory zonation with luminescence graduation (gradational zonation), and heterogeneous CL. The quartz crystals with oscillatory zonation were formed in the temperature range of about 800 C to below 700 C, which is referred to as oscillatory zoning temperature (OZT) conditions. The CL zonation pattern was controlled by the temperature conditions and titanium diffusivity in the melt (magma). The crystallization process of quartz within the Toki granite reveals the cooling processes of the granitic pluton; the lithofacies with a high frequency of oscillatory-zoned quartz underwent slower cooling under the OZT conditions than those in other lithofacies.

Ultra-high temperature creep rupture and transient burst strength of ODS steel claddings

Yano, Yasuhide; Sekio, Yoshihiro; Tanno, Takashi; Kato, Shoichi; Inoue, Toshihiko; Oka, Hiroshi; Otsuka, Satoshi; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Uwaba, Tomoyuki; Kaito, Takeji; et al.

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 516, p.347 - 353, 2019/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.01.052

9Cr-ODS steel claddings consisting of tempered martensitic matrix, showed prominent creep rupture strength at 1000 C, which surpassed that of heat-resistant austenitic steels although creep rupture strength of tempered martensitic steels is generally lower than that of austenitic steels at high temperatures. The measured creep rupture strength of 9Cr-ODS steel claddings at 1000 C was higher than that from extrapolated creep rupture trend curves formulated using data at temperatures from 650 to 850 C. This superior strength seemed to be owing to transformation of the matrix from the -phase to the -phase. The transient burst strengths for 9Cr-ODS steel were much higher than those for 11Cr-ferritic/martensitic steel (PNC-FMS). Cumulative damage fraction analyses suggested that the life fraction rule can be used for the rupture life prediction of 9Cr-ODS steel and PNC-FMS claddings in the transient and accidental events with a certain accuracy.

Post irradiation experiment about SiC-coated oxidation-resistant graphite for high temperature gas-cooled reactor

Shibata, Taiju; Mizuta, Naoki; Sumita, Junya; Sakaba, Nariaki; Osaki, Takashi*; Kato, Hideki*; Izawa, Shoichi*; Muto, Takenori*; Gizatulin, S.*; Shaimerdenov, A.*; et al.

Proceedings of 9th International Topical Meeting on High Temperature Reactor Technology (HTR 2018) (USB Flash Drive), 7 Pages, 2018/10

Graphite materials are used for the in-core components of High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR). Oxidation damage on the graphite components in air ingress accident is a crucial issue for the safety point of view. SiC coating on graphite surface is a possible technique to enhance oxidation resistance. However, it is important to confirm the integrity of this material against high temperature and neutron irradiation for the application of the in-core components. JAEA and Japanese graphite companies carried out the R&D to develop the oxidation-resistant graphite. JAEA and INP investigated the irradiation effects on the oxidation-resistant graphite by using a framework of ISTC partner project. This paper describes the results of post irradiation experiment about the neutron irradiated SiC-coated oxidation-resistant graphite. A brand of oxidation-resistant graphite shows excellent performance against oxidation test after the irradiation.

Model calculation of Cr dissolution behavior of ODS ferritic steel in high-temperature flowing sodium environment

Otsuka, Satoshi; Tanno, Takashi; Oka, Hiroshi; Yano, Yasuhide; Kato, Shoichi; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Kaito, Takeji

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 505, p.44 - 53, 2018/07

AA2017-0603.pdf:1.7MB

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.03.054

A calculation model was constructed to systematically study the effects of environmental conditions (i.e. Cr concentration in sodium, test temperature, axial temperature gradient of fuel pin, and sodium flow velocity) on Cr dissolution behavior. Chromium dissolution was largely influenced by small changes in Cr concentration (i.e. chemical potential of Cr) in liquid sodium in the model calculation. Chromium concentration in sodium coolant, therefore, should be recognized as a critical parameter for the prediction and management of Cr dissolution behavior in the sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) core. Because the fuel column length showed no impact on dissolution behavior in the model calculation, no significant downstream effects possibly take place in the SFR fuel cladding tube due to the much shorter length compared with sodium loops in the SFR plant and the large axial temperature gradient. The calculated profile of Cr concentration along the wall-thickness direction was consistent with that measured in BOR-60 irradiation test where Cr concentration in sodium bulk flow was set at 0.07 wt ppm in the calculation.

Ecological and genomic profiling of anaerobic methane-oxidizing archaea in a deep granitic environment

Ino, Kohei*; Hernsdorf, A. W.*; Konno, Yuta*; Kozuka, Mariko*; Yanagawa, Katsunori*; Kato, Shingo*; Sunamura, Michinari*; Hirota, Akinari*; Togo, Yoko*; Ito, Kazumasa*; et al.

ISME Journal, 12(1), p.31 - 47, 2018/01

https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2017.140

In this study, we found the dominance ofanaerobic methane-oxidizing archaea in groundwater enriched in sulfate and methane from a 300-m deep underground borehole in granitic rock.