Conceptual study of a plutonium burner high temperature gas-cooled reactor with high nuclear proliferation resistance

Goto, Minoru; Demachi, Kazuyuki*; Ueta, Shohei; Nakano, Masaaki*; Honda, Masaki*; Tachibana, Yukio; Inaba, Yoshitomo; Aihara, Jun; Fukaya, Yuji; Tsuji, Nobumasa*; et al.

Proceedings of 21st International Conference & Exhibition; Nuclear Fuel Cycle for a Low-Carbon Future (GLOBAL 2015) (USB Flash Drive), p.507 - 513, 2015/09

A concept of a plutonium burner HTGR named as Clean Burn, which has a high nuclear proliferation resistance, had been proposed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency. In addition to the high nuclear proliferation resistance, in order to enhance the safety, we propose to introduce PuO-YSZ TRISO fuel with ZrC coating to the Clean Burn. In this study, we conduct fabrication tests aiming to establish the basic technologies for fabrication of PuO-YSZ TRISO fuel with ZrC coating. Additionally, we conduct a quantitative evaluation of the security for the safety, a design of the fuel and the reactor core, and a safety evaluation for the Clean Burn to confirm the feasibility. This study is conducted by The University of Tokyo, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Fuji Electric Co., Ltd., and Nuclear Fuel Industries, Ltd. It was started in FY2014 and will be completed in FY2017, and the first year of the implementation was on schedule.

Study on chemical reactivity control of sodium by suspended nanoparticles, 1

Ara, Kuniaki; Sugiyama, Kenichiro*; Kitagawa, Hiroshi*; Nagai, Masahiko*; Yoshioka, Naoki*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 47(12), p.1165 - 1170, 2010/12

https://doi.org/10.3327/jnst.47.1165

A study on the chemical reactivity control of sodium utilizing the atomic interaction of sodium with suspended nanoparticles was carried out. The atomic interaction between nanoparticles and sodium atoms were estimated by theoretical calculations and verified by fundamental physical properties measurements. Results showed the atomic bond of the sodium atom and the nanoparticle atom was significantly larger than that of the sodium atoms, when the transition metals that have the property of large electronegativity are applied as nanoparticles. From the theoretical calculation results, it was suggested that charge transfer occurs from the sodium atom to the nanoparticle atom. The fundamental physical properties of sodium with suspended nanoparticles were examined in comparison with that of sodium to verify the change of the atomic interaction. From the experimental results, it became clear that the surface tension becomes larger and the evaporation rate becomes smaller. These changes in fundamental physical properties were measured to verify the stability of the atomic interaction under the conditions of wide temperature range and the phase transformation from solid phase to liquid phase.

Replacement technology for front acrylic panels of a large-sized glove box using bag-in / bag-out method

Sakuraba, Naotoshi; Numata, Masami; Komiya, Tomokazu; Ichise, Kenichi; Nishi, Masahiro; Tomita, Takeshi; Usami, Koji; Endo, Shinya; Miyata, Seiichi; Kurosawa, Tatsuya; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2009-071, 34 Pages, 2010/03

JAEA-Technology-2009-071.pdf:21.07MB

As a part of maintenance technology of a large-sized glove box for handling of TRU nuclides, we developed replacement technology for front acrylic panels using the bag-in/bag-out method and applied this technology to replace the deteriorated front acrylic panels at Waste Safety Testing Facility (WASTEF) in Nuclear Science Research Institute of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). As a consequence, we could safely replace the front acrylic panels under the condition of continuous negative pressure only with partial decontamination of the glove box. We also demonstrated that the present technology is highly effective in points of safety, workability and cost as compared to the usual replacement technology for front acrylic panels of a glove box, where workers in an air-line suit replace directly the front acrylic panels in a green house.

Study on chemical reactivity control of liquid sodium; Research program

Saito, Junichi; Ara, Kuniaki; Sugiyama, Kenichiro*; Kitagawa, Hiroshi*; Oka, Nobuki*; Yoshioka, Naoki*

Proceedings of 15th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-15) (CD-ROM), 5 Pages, 2007/04

Liquid sodium is used as the coolant of the fast breeder reactor (FBR), because of its high thermal conductivity and wide temperature range of liquid. However the chemical reactivity with water and oxygen of sodium is very high. So an innovative technology to control the reactivity is desired. The purpose of this study is to reduce the chemical reactivity of liquid sodium by dispersing the nanometer-size metallic particles into liquid sodium. Sub-themes of this study are nanoparticles production, evaluation of reaction control of liquid sodium, and feasibility study to FBR. In this paper, we describe the research program of them.

Study on chemical reactivity control of liquid sodium, 1; Research program of project

Ara, Kuniaki; Saito, Junichi; Sugiyama, Kenichiro*; Kitagawa, Hiroshi*; Ogata, Hiroshi*; Toda, Mikio*; Yoshioka, Naoki*

no journal, , 

no abstracts in English

Development of volume reduction equipment for radioactive waste

Ichise, Kenichi; Sakuraba, Naotoshi; Suzuki, Kazuhiro; Miyata, Seiichi; Komiya, Tomokazu; Nishi, Masahiro; Kitagawa, Isamu; Numata, Masami

no journal, , 

As a part of measures to reduce radioactive wastes, which are generated during operation and maintenance of Waste Safety Testing Facility (WASTEF), we developed volume reduction equipment for and wastes. In this presentation, we report manufacture of an experimental model, its operativeness & verification of reduction effect in a mock-up test, improvements, and application to actual radioactive wastes.