Catalog of gamma-ray glows during four winter seasons in Japan

和田 有希*; 松本 崇弘*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 中澤 知洋*; 湯浅 孝行*; 古田 禄大*; 米徳 大輔*; 澤野 達哉*; 岡田 豪*; 南戸 秀仁*; et al.

Physical Review Research (Internet), 3(4), p.043117_1 - 043117_31, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.043117

In 2015 the Gamma-Ray Observation of Winter Thunderstorms (GROWTH) collaboration launched a mapping observation campaign for high-energy atmospheric phenomena related to thunderstorms and lightning discharges. This campaign has developed a detection network of gamma rays with up to 10 radiation monitors installed in Kanazawa and Komatsu cities, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, where low-charge-center winter thunderstorms frequently occur. During four winter seasons from October 2016 to April 2020, in total 70 gamma-ray glows, minute-lasting bursts of gamma rays originating from thunderclouds, were detected. Their average duration is 58.9 sec. Among the detected events, 77% were observed in nighttime. The gamma-ray glows can be classified into temporally-symmetric, temporally-asymmetric, and lightning-terminated types based on their count-rate histories. An averaged energy spectrum of the gamma-ray glows is well fitted with a power-law function with an exponential cutoff, whose photon index, cutoff energy, and flux are 0.613 0.009, 4.68 0.04 MeV, and (1.013 0.003) 10 erg cms (0.2-20.0 MeV), respectively. The present paper provides the first catalog of gamma-ray glows and their statistical analysis detected during winter thunderstorms in the Kanazawa and Komatsu areas.

Feasibility study of PGAA for boride identification in simulated melted core materials

土川 雄介; 阿部 雄太; 大石 佑治*; 甲斐 哲也; 藤 暢輔; 瀬川 麻里子; 前田 亮; 木村 敦; 中村 詔司; 原田 正英; et al.

JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 33, p.011074_1 - 011074_6, 2021/03

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSCP.33.011074

福島原子力発電所の解体作業では、溶融した燃料棒に含まれるホウ素分布を事前に把握することが重要である。溶融燃料棒の模擬試験体を用意し、ホウ素やホウ化物の含有量を調査する研究が行われてきた。本研究では、その一環として中性子を用いたホウ素並びにホウ化物分布の測定技術開発を行った。ホウ素の中性子吸収に伴う即発ガンマ線を測定し、ホウ素量や二次元分布を測定した。また、n(B,)反応における478keV線は、ホウ素の化合状態により、線ピークの幅が変化することが知られている。このことを用い、特に溶融燃料棒周辺に存在することが予測されているZrBやFeBといったホウ化物の識別可能性について調査した。測定はJ-PARC/MLFのANNRI, NOBORU, RADENにて行った。これらの解析結果について報告する。

Development of three-dimensional distribution visualization technology for boron using energy resolved neutron-imaging system (RADEN)

阿部 雄太; 土川 雄介; 甲斐 哲也; 松本 吉弘*; Parker, J. D.*; 篠原 武尚; 大石 佑治*; 加美山 隆*; 永江 勇二; 佐藤 一憲

Proceedings of 2020 International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 2020) (Internet), 6 Pages, 2020/08

https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE2020-16723

Boron carbide is used as a neutron-absorbing material in Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F), producing borides that are twice as hard as oxides (such as UO and ZrO). The high neutron absorption of boron affects the evaluation of re-criticality during the process of debris retrieval. Therefore, it is important not only to determine the presence of boron but also to investigate the distribution of boron inside the material in a non-destructive manner during decommissioning. To address the uncertainties in the core material relocation behavior of boiling water reactor (BWR) during a severe accident (SA), solidified melt specimens of a simulated fuel assembly were prepared by plasma heating. If core material melting and relocation (CMMR) specimens can be used to estimate the B distribution in 1F Unit-3, that will provide valuable information in the decommissioning of 1F. To address this, the authors focused on the energy-resolved neutron imaging system, RADEN, which utilizes a wide energy range, from meV to keV. This is an innovative three-dimensional analysis technology for boride distribution that affects the evaluation of hardness and re-criticality. In the calibration standard samples (ZrB and FeB), there was a good correlation between boron concentration and the energy-dependence of the cross sections of cold and epi-thermal neutrons. In the CMMR specimens, boron distribution was confirmed from the contrast difference between cold and epi-thermal neutrons. In the future, the results of calibration standard samples will be applied to the results of CMMR specimens. With this method, three-dimensional boron distribution will be measured, and the understanding of boride distribution 1F Unit-3 will be improved, which may be reflected in an improved SA code.

The Energy-resolved neutron imaging system, RADEN

篠原 武尚; 甲斐 哲也; 及川 健一; 中谷 健; 瀬川 麻里子; 廣井 孝介; Su, Y. H.; 大井 元貴; 原田 正英; 飯倉 寛; et al.

Review of Scientific Instruments, 91(4), p.043302_1 - 043302_20, 2020/04

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5136034

The energy-resolved neutron imaging system, RADEN, has been installed at the pulsed neutron source in the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex. In addition to conventional neutron radiography and tomography, RADEN, the world's first imaging beam-line at a pulsed neutron source, provides three main options for new, quantitative neutron imaging techniques: Bragg-edge imaging to visualize the spatial distribution of crystallographic information, resonance absorption imaging for elemental composition and temperature information, and polarized neutron imaging for magnetic field information. This paper describes the results of characterization studies of the neutronic performance and installed devices at RADEN and shows the results of several demonstration studies for pulsed neutron imaging.

Pulsed neutron imaging based crystallographic structure study of a Japanese sword made by Sukemasa in the Muromachi period

及川 健一; 鬼柳 善明*; 佐藤 博隆*; 大前 良磨*; Pham, A.*; 渡辺 賢一*; 松本 吉弘*; 篠原 武尚; 甲斐 哲也; Harjo, S.; et al.

Materials Research Proceedings, Vol.15, p.207 - 213, 2020/02

https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644900574-32

Japanese swords are very attractive not only as a work of art but also a metallurgical point of view. Since Japanese vintage swords became valuable, it is indispensable to establish non-destructive analysis method to identify some peculiar characteristics. Bragg edge imaging gives real-space distributions of bulk information in a crystalline material as well as neutron tomography. In this work, we investigated crystallographic information of a Japanese sword made by Sukemasa in Izumi province in the first quarter of the 16th century. The experiments have been performed at RADEN at J-PARC. The Sukemasa sword was measured with a counting-type 2D detector and with a CCD camera. We are now analyzing the measured 2D-transmission spectra using RITS code to obtain spatial distribution of the crystallite size, the texture variation, the d110 shift and its broadening. Complementary data analysis using white beam tomography is also on going. Detailed analysis results will be presented.

Neutron computed tomography of phase separation structures in solidified Cu-Co alloys and investigation of relationship between the structures and melt convection during solidification

庄司 衛太*; 磯谷 祥世*; 鈴木 陸人*; 久保 正樹*; 塚田 隆夫*; 甲斐 哲也; 篠原 武尚; 松本 吉弘*; 福山 博之*

Scripta Materialia, 175, p.29 - 32, 2020/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2019.08.041

The effect of melt convection on the phase separation structures in undercooled Cu- Co alloys was investigated using the electromagnetic levitation technique, where the melt convection was controlled by applying a static magnetic field. The three-dimensional phase separation structures of the solidified Cu-Co alloys were first observed using neutron computed tomography. A large number of small spherical Co-rich phases were dispersed in the Cu-rich phase matrix when the static magnetic field was relatively small. In contrast, several coalesced Co-rich phases, which were elongated along the direction of the static magnetic field, appeared in the higher strength of static magnetic field.

Downward terrestrial gamma-ray flash observed in a winter thunderstorm

和田 有希*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 中澤 知洋*; 古田 禄大; 湯浅 孝行*; 中村 佳敬*; 森本 健志*; 松元 崇弘*; 牧島 一夫*; 土屋 晴文

Physical Review Letters, 123(6), p.061103_1 - 061103_6, 2019/08

AA2018-0706.pdf:0.79MB

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.061103

During a winter thunderstorm on 2017 November 24, a strong burst of gamma-rays with energies up to 10 MeV was detected coincident with a lightning discharge, by scintillation detectors installed at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant at sea level in Japan. The burst had a sub-second duration, which is suggestive of photoneutron productions. The leading part of the burst was resolved into four intense gamma-ray bunches, each coincident with a low-frequency radio pulse. These bunches were separated by 0.71.5 ms, with a duration of 1 ms each. Thus, the present burst may be considered as a "downward" terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF), which is analogous to up-going TGFs observed from space. Although the scintillation detectors were heavily saturated by these bunches, the total dose associated with them was successfully measured by ionization chambers, employed by nine monitoring posts surrounding the power plant. From this information and Monte Carlo simulations, the present downward TGF is suggested to have taken place at an altitude of 2500500 m, involving avalanche electrons with energies above 1 MeV which is comparable to those in up-going TGFs.

Recent progress on practical materials study by Bragg edge imaging at J-PARC

及川 健一; Su, Y.; 鬼柳 亮嗣; 川崎 卓郎; 篠原 武尚; 甲斐 哲也; 廣井 孝介; Harjo, S.; Parker, J. D.*; 松本 吉弘*; et al.

Physica B; Condensed Matter, 551, p.436 - 442, 2018/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physb.2017.12.038

We are promoting for practical product observation by the energy-resolved neutron imaging method using high-intensity pulsed neutrons at J-PARC, under the Photon and Quantum Basic Research Coordinated Development Program from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. Bragg edge imaging, one of the energy-resolved neutron imaging methods for visualizing material properties, was applied to feasibility study of the temperature distribution of copper rod, complementary study of the texture and strain distribution of bent steel plates using neutron diffraction and EBSD, and so on. Outline of results obtained by these imaging experiments will be presented.

Effect of upstream beam collimation on neutron phase imaging with a Talbot-Lau interferometer at the RADEN beam line in J-PARC

關 義親; 篠原 武尚; 上野 若菜; Parker, J. D.*; 松本 吉弘*

Physica B; Condensed Matter, 551, p.512 - 516, 2018/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physb.2018.03.003

3枚の格子からなる中性子タルボ・ロー干渉計は高機能なイメージング装置であり、通常の吸収コントラスト像に加えて、微分位相コントラスト像とビジビリティコントラスト像も同時に取得することができる。我々はJ-PARC MLF RADENビームラインにおいて波長分解型のタルボ・ロー干渉計の開発を進めている。干渉パターンの波長分解解析を行うことで、白色ビーム測定で生じていた色収差による系統誤差を排除するとともに、より定量的な情報を引き出すことが可能になる。この波長分解測定・解析法を前提として、RADENビームラインの波長スペクトルに最適化した干渉計の設計(中心波長・格子周期・格子間距離)を決定した。

Deformation analysis of reinforced concrete using neutron imaging technique

小山 拓*; 上野 一貴*; 関根 麻里子*; 松本 吉弘*; 甲斐 哲也; 篠原 武尚; 飯倉 寛; 鈴木 裕士; 兼松 学*

Materials Research Proceedings, Vol.4, p.155 - 160, 2018/05

https://doi.org/10.21741/9781945291678-24

We developed, in this study, a novel method to observe internal deformation of concrete by the neutron transmission imaging technique. In order to visualize the internal deformation of concrete, the cement paste markers containing GdO powder were two-dimensionally dispersed around the ferritic deformed rebar in the reinforced concrete. This experiment was conducted using BL22, RADEN, in the Material and Life Science Experimental Facility of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex. The transmission images of the reinforced concrete sample were taken at several positions on the vertical sample stage, and the displacement of the marker from the initial position was successfully evaluated within approximately 0.1 mm accuracy by image analysis for selected markers with higher contrast and circularity. Furthermore, concrete deformation under pull-out loading to the embedded rebar was evaluated by the same way, and its reaction compressive deformation was successfully observed by analyzing the displacement of the markers. The results obtained in this study bring beneficial knowledge that the measurement accuracy of the marker displacement can be improved more by choosing a spherical shape of the marker and by increasing the contrast of the marker.