Development and evaluation of XRF imaging instrument for moving objects

Fuchita, Tomoki*; Urata, Taisei*; Matsuyama, Tsugufumi*; Murakami, Masashi; Yoshida, Yukihiko; Ueda, Akihiko; Machida, Masahiko; Sasaki, Toshiki; Tsuji, Koichi*

X-sen Bunseki No Shimpo, 53, p.77 - 87, 2022/03

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis is an analytical method to obtain elemental information by detecting fluorescence X-rays emitted from a sample irradiated with X-rays. It is possible to obtain two-dimensional elemental distribution images by scanning a sample with micro X-ray beam. In this study, we developed an XRF analytical instrument to rapidly obtain the elemental distributions for moving samples on a belt conveyor by applying the micro XRF technique. X-rays were widely irradiated to the belt conveyor. The elemental distributions were measured by scanning an X-ray detector, crossing above the belt conveyor. A collimator was attached to the top of the detector to limit the analyzing area. Both detection limit and spatial resolutions for moving directions of the detector and the belt conveyor were evaluated. Finally, it was demonstrated that the multi-elemental imaging was possible with the developed XRF instrument.

Present status and future perspective of R&D for 3D-ADRES (3-Dimensional Air Dose Rate Evaluation System); Evaluation scheme for air dose rate distributions in city and forest areas towards Fukushima's revitalization

Kim, M.; Malins, A.; Machida, Masahiko; Yoshimura, Kazuya; Saito, Kimiaki; Yoshida, Hiroko*; Yanagi, Hideaki*; Yoshida, Toru*; Hasegawa, Yukihiro*

RIST News, (67), p.3 - 15, 2021/09

https://www.rist.or.jp/rnews/67/ristnews_67.html

no abstracts in English

Development of leak before break assessment guidelines for sodium cooled fast reactors in Japan

Yada, Hiroki; Wakai, Takashi; Miyagawa, Takayuki*; Machida, Hideo*

Proceedings of ASME 2021 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference (PVP 2021) (Internet), 10 Pages, 2021/07

Calculations for ambient dose equivalent rates in nine forests in eastern Japan from Cs and Cs radioactivity measurements

Malins, A.; Imamura, Naohiro*; Niizato, Tadafumi; Takahashi, Junko*; Kim, M.; Sakuma, Kazuyuki; Shinomiya, Yoshiki*; Miura, Satoru*; Machida, Masahiko

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 226, p.106456_1 - 106456_12, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2020.106456

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

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

JAEA-Research 2020-007, 249 Pages, 2020/10

JAEA-Research-2020-007.pdf:15.83MB

The accident of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, 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, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been conducting "Long-term Assessment of Transport of Radioactive Contaminants in the Environment of Fukushima" 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.

Seven-year temporal variation of caesium-137 discharge inventory from the port of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant; Continuous monthly estimation of caesium-137 discharge in the period from April 2011 to June 2018

Machida, Masahiko; Yamada, Susumu; Iwata, Ayako; Otosaka, Shigeyoshi; Kobayashi, Takuya; Watanabe, Masahisa; Funasaka, Hideyuki; Morita, Takami*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 57(8), p.939 - 950, 2020/08

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2020.1740809

After direct discharges of highly contaminated water of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (1F) from April to May 2011, Kanda suggested that relatively small amounts of run-off of radionuclides from the 1F port into the Fukushima coastal region subsequently continued by his estimation method. However, the estimation period was limited to up to September 2012. Therefore, this paper estimates the discharge inventory up to June 2018. In the missing period, the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings have continued efforts to stop the discharge, and consequently, the radionuclide concentration in seawater inside the 1F port has gradually diminished. We show the monthly discharge inventory of Cs up to June 2018 by two methods, i.e., Kanda method partially improved by the authors and a more sophisticated method using Voronoi tessellation reflecting the increase in the number of monitoring points inside the 1 F port. The results show that the former always yields overestimated results compared with the latter, but the ratio of the former to the latter is less than one order of magnitude. Using these results, we evaluate the impact of the discharge inventory from the 1F port into the coastal area and radiation dose upon fish ingestion.

Neutron diffraction study on the deuterium composition of nickel deuteride at high temperatures and high pressures

Saito, Hiroyuki*; Machida, Akihiko*; Hattori, Takanori; Sano, Asami; Funakoshi, Kenichi*; Sato, Toyoto*; Orimo, Shinichi*; Aoki, Katsutoshi*

Physica B; Condensed Matter, 587, p.412153_1 - 412153_6, 2020/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physb.2020.412153

The site occupancy of deuterium (D) atoms in face-centered-cubic nickel (fcc Ni) was measured along a cooling path from 1073 to 300 K at an initial pressure of 3.36 GPa via in situ neutron powder diffraction. Deuterium atoms predominantly occupy the octahedral (O) sites and slightly occupy the tetrahedral (T) sites of the fcc metal lattice. The O-site occupancy increases from 0.4 to 0.85 as the temperature is lowered from 1073 to 300 K. Meanwhile, the T-site occupancy remains c.a. 0.02. The temperature-independent behavior of the T-site occupancy is unusual, and its process is not yet understood. From the linear relation between the expanded lattice volume and D content, a D-induced volume expansion of 2.09(13) atom was obtained. This value is in agreement with the values of 2.14-2.2 atom previously reported for Ni and Ni Fe alloy.

Horizontal line nodes in SrRuO proved by spin resonance

Iida, Kazuki*; Kofu, Maiko; Suzuki, Katsuhiro*; Murai, Naoki; Kawamura, Seiko; Kajimoto, Ryoichi; Inamura, Yasuhiro; Ishikado, Motoyuki*; Hasegawa, Shunsuke*; Masuda, Takatsugu*; et al.

Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 89(5), p.053702_1 - 053702_5, 2020/05

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSJ.89.053702

Ice I without stacking disorder by evacuating hydrogen from hydrogen hydrate

Komatsu, Kazuki*; Machida, Shinichi*; Noritake, Fumiya*; Hattori, Takanori; Sano, Asami; Yamane, Ryo*; Yamashita, Keishiro*; Kagi, Hiroyuki*

Nature Communications (Internet), 11(1), p.464_1 - 464_5, 2020/02

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14346-5

Water freezes below 0C at ambient pressure ordinarily to ice I, with hexagonal stacking sequence. Under certain conditions, ice with a cubic stacking sequence can also be formed, but ideal ice I without stacking-disorder has never been formed until recently. Here we demonstrate a route to obtain ice I without stacking-disorder by degassing hydrogen from the high-pressure form of hydrogen hydrate, C, which has a host framework isostructural with ice I. The stacking-disorder free ice I is formed from C via an intermediate amorphous or nano-crystalline form under decompression, unlike the direct transformations occurring in ice XVI from neon hydrate, or ice XVII from hydrogen hydrate. The obtained ice I shows remarkable thermal stability, until the phase transition to ice I at 250 K, originating from the lack of dislocations. This discovery of ideal ice I will promote understanding of the role of stacking-disorder on the physical properties of ice as a counter end-member of ice I.

Crystal structure of a high-pressure phase of magnesium chloride hexahydrate determined by X-ray and neutron diffraction methods

Yamashita, Keishiro*; Komatsu, Kazuki*; Hattori, Takanori; Machida, Shinichi*; Kagi, Hiroyuki*

Acta Crystallographica Section C; Structural Chemistry (Internet), 75(12), p.1605 - 1612, 2019/12

https://doi.org/10.1107/S2053229619014670

A crystal structure of a high-pressure phase of magnesium chloride hexahydrate (MgCl 6HO-II) and its deuterated counterpart (MgCl 6DO-II) have been identified for the first time by in-situ single-crystal X-ray and powder neutron diffraction. The crystal structure was analyzed by the Rietveld method for the neutron diffraction pattern based on the initial structure determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. This high-pressure phase has a similar framework to that in the known ambient-pressure phase, but exhibits some structural changes with symmetry reduction caused by a subtle modification in the hydrogen-bond network around the Mg(HO) octahedra. These structural features reflect the strain in the high-pressure phases of MgCl hydrates.