Development of a non-destructive depth-selective quantification method for sub-percent carbon contents in steel using negative muon lifetime analysis

Ninomiya, Kazuhiko*; Kubo, Kenya*; Inagaki, Makoto*; Yoshida, Go*; Chiu, I.-H. ; Kudo, Takuto*; Asari, Shunsuke*; Sentoku, Sawako*; Takeshita, Soshi*; Shimomura, Koichiro*; et al.

Scientific Reports (Internet), 14, p.1797_1 - 1797_8, 2024/01

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52255-5

The amount of C in steel, which is critical in determining its properties, is strongly influenced by steel production technology. We propose a novel method of quantifying the bulk C content in steel non-destructively using muons. This revolutionary method may be used not only in the quality control of steel in production, but also in analyzing precious steel archaeological artifacts. A negatively charged muon forms an atomic system owing to its negative charge, and is finally absorbed into the nucleus or decays to an electron. The lifetimes of muons differ significantly, depending on whether they are trapped by Fe or C atoms, and identifying the elemental content at the muon stoppage position is possible via muon lifetime measurements. The relationship between the muon capture probabilities of C/Fe and the elemental content of C exhibits a good linearity, and the C content in the steel may be quantitatively determined via muon lifetime measurements. Furthermore, by controlling the incident energies of the muons, they may be stopped in each layer of a stacked sample consisting of three types of steel plates with thicknesses of 0.5 mm, and we successfully determined the C contents in the range 0.20 - 1.03 wt% depth-selectively, without sample destruction.

Research and development on membrane IS process for hydrogen production using solar heat

Myagmarjav, O.; Iwatsuki, Jin; Tanaka, Nobuyuki; Noguchi, Hiroki; Kamiji, Yu; Ioka, Ikuo; Kubo, Shinji; Nomura, Mikihiro*; Yamaki, Tetsuya*; Sawada, Shinichi*; et al.

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 44(35), p.19141 - 19152, 2019/07

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.03.132

Negative muon capture ratios for nitrogen oxide molecules

Ninomiya, Kazuhiko*; Ito, Takashi; Higemoto, Wataru; Kawamura, Naritoshi*; Strasser, P.*; Nagatomo, Takashi*; Shimomura, Koichiro*; Miyake, Yasuhiro*; Kita, Makoto*; Shinohara, Atsushi*; et al.

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 319(3), p.767 - 773, 2019/03

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6366-3

The Development of a non-destructive analysis system with negative muon beam for industrial devices at J-PARC MUSE

Tampo, Motonobu*; Hamada, Koji*; Kawamura, Naritoshi*; Inagaki, Makoto*; Ito, Takashi; Kojima, Kenji*; Kubo, Kenya*; Ninomiya, Kazuhiko*; Strasser, P.*; Yoshida, Go*; et al.

JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 8, p.036016_1 - 036016_6, 2015/09

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSCP.8.036016

NHEJ repair rather than HR repair is the primary function to target to enhance radiosensitization at high LET values

Takahashi, Akihisa*; Kubo, Makoto*; Igarashi, Chie*; Yoshida, Yukari*; Funayama, Tomoo; Kobayashi, Yasuhiko; Nakano, Takashi*

JAEA-Review 2014-050, JAEA Takasaki Annual Report 2013, P. 82, 2015/03

https://doi.org/10.11484/jaea-review-2014-050

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) induced by ionizing radiation pose a major threat to cell survival. The cell can respond to the presence of DSBs, through two major repair pathways: Homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). Higher levels of cell death are induced by high-LET radiation when compared to low-LET radiation, even at the same doses because of less effective or more inefficient DNA repair. In this study, we examine the effects of radiation with different LET values on DNA DSB repair and radiosensitivity. Wild-type cells and HR deficient (but NHEJ proficient) cells exhibited the high RBE values at LET values of 108 keV/ m. The RBE value for each cell type decreased with increasing LET values over 200 keV/m. Although NHEJ proficient cells had an almost constant SER value, NHEJ deficient cells showed a high SER value when compared to NHEJ proficient cells, even with increasing LET values.

Nonhomologous end-joining repair plays a more important role than homologous recombination repair in defining radiosensitivity after exposure to high-LET radiation

Takahashi, Akihisa*; Kubo, Makoto*; Ma, H.*; Nakagawa, Akiko*; Yoshida, Yukari*; Isono, Mayu*; Kanai, Tatsuaki*; Ono, Tatsuya*; Furusawa, Yoshiya*; Funayama, Tomoo; et al.

Radiation Research, 182(3), p.338 - 344, 2014/09

https://doi.org/10.1667/RR13782.1

To clarify whether high-LET radiation inhibits all repair pathways or specifically one repair pathway, studies were designed to examine the effects of radiation with different LET values on DNA DSB repair and radiosensitivity. Embryonic fibroblasts bearing repair gene KO were exposed to X rays, carbon-, iron-, neon- and argon-ion beams. Cell survival was measured with colony-forming assays. The sensitization enhancement ratio (SER) values were calculated using the 10% survival dose of wild-type cells and repair-deficient cells. Cellular radiosensitivity was listed in descending order: double-KO cells NHEJ-KO cells HR-KO cells wild-type cells. Although HR-KO cells had an almost constant SER value, NHEJ-KO cells showed a high-SER value when compared to HR-KO cells, even with increasing LET values. These results suggest that with carbon-ion therapy, targeting NHEJ repair yields higher radiosensitivity than targeting homologous recombination repair.

Present status of hydrogen production and the ammonia production by the thermochemical cycle; Introduction of IS cycle and ISN cycle

Kameyama, Hideo*; Sakurai, Makoto*; Masuda, Akiyuki*; Fukui, Tomoaki*; Onuki, Kaoru; Kubo, Shinji; Imai, Yoshiyuki

Suiso Enerugi Shisutemu, 37(1), p.3 - 10, 2012/03

http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/40019250721

The technical present status of hydrogen production process using IS thermochemical cycle was introduced. This process is experimentally investigated in Japan, U.S.A., Germany, France, Italy, India, China and Korea. Japan Atomic Energy Agency succeeded in consecutive hydrogen production as a proof examination. The trend of the research and development about the reactions, separation technology, device materials and the process equipment were reported. Thermochemical ammonia production cycle was also introduced. This new cycle is named ISN cycle which was modified from IS cycle in order to produce ammonia from water and nitrogen.

Construction work of Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory

Kubo, Makoto*; Mikake, Shinichiro; Ikeda, Koki; Yamamoto, Masaru

Kisoko, 39(9), p.82 - 85, 2011/09

http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/40018978249

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)'s task is to provide the scientific and technical basis for safe geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. This involves researches on development and improvement of techniques for characterization of the deep geological environment and a wide range of engineering for deep underground application in crystalline rock at "Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory". This report describes the summary of construction.

Basic vacuum test of 500-kV photocathode DC gun components at KEK

Yamamoto, Masahiro*; Uchiyama, Takashi*; Miyajima, Tsukasa*; Honda, Yosuke*; Sato, Kotaro*; Matsuba, Shunya*; Saito, Yoshio*; Kobayashi, Masanori*; Kurisu, Hiriki*; Hajima, Ryoichi; et al.

Proceedings of 7th Annual Meeting of Particle Accelerator Society of Japan (DVD-ROM), p.717 - 720, 2010/08

http://www.pasj.jp/web_publish/pasj7/proceedings/P_4PM/P_EH_4PM/WEPS124.pdf

A 500-kV photocathode DC electron gun which can supply the beam of a low emittance and a high average current has been developed in collaboration with KEK, JAEA, Hiroshima Univ., Nagoya Univ. and Yamaguchi Univ. The vacuum of the gun chamber has to be lower Extreme High Vacuum for maintain cathode-life time. A titanium chamber and new material of ceramic were employed to reduce outgassing rate. The result of outgassing rate of the gun chamber is described in this report.

Hydrogen production by heat utilization of high temperature gas cooled reactor

Kubo, Shinji; Hishida, Makoto*

Kaishu Nisanka Tanso O Shigen Toshite Yuko Riyo Suru Gijutsu Shisutemu Ni Kansuru Chosa Kenkyu Seika Hokokusho, p.120 - 124, 2009/03

This article reports overview of various hydrogen production process which utilize heat supplied by the high temperature gas cooled reactors. Brief description for the thermochemical water splitting IS process, the hybrid-sulfur process, UT-3 process, the methane steam reforming process and the high temperature steam electrolysis were summarized. Research trends and a framework of international corporation in this field were introduced.